intelligent

EUROPE

The report , Leading the Charge on Sustainability : Moving from Awareness to Action , canvasses the views of 500 C-suite executives from SMEs from a range of industries across the UK and explores the level of awareness , commitment and action taken by leaders to embed sustainability into their businesses . It also highlights the key challenges encountered by SMEs in their sustainability journey and identifies where support is most needed .

An impressive level of awareness among SMEs

The report highlights a strong understanding among SME executives on the value that sustainability can bring to their business . Fifty-eight percent recognise that it can help them to meet the evolving needs of stakeholders and 41 % believe it can help attract investors . As a result , 80 % of the SMEs surveyed said their organisation is committed to sustainability .

Moving from awareness to action

To monitor their progress , four in five SMEs are now participating in sustainability reporting . Key aspects of focus in these reports include sustainability targets ( 70 %), carbon footprint ( 54 %) and compliance with international reporting standards ( 51 %).

Communicating progress is becoming an increasing priority both internally and externally . Sixty-two percent communicate their organisation ’ s commitment to sustainability internally , and more than 50 % of SMEs have already begun reporting their sustainability commitments externally with stakeholders .

To support them on their journey , more than threequarters of SMEs ( 77 %) are using technology as well as a sustainability platform to facilitate their goals , and they are confident in their efforts to date . Business leaders believe that their organisations are performing strongly in the following areas : employee engagement

and satisfaction ( 79 %), environmental metrics ( 76 %), environmental management of the supply chain ( 76 %) and sustainable business practices ( 75 %).

Significant hurdles remain

The findings show that while the majority of UK SMEs appreciate the value of sustainability , challenges still remain . The top three cited pain points include understanding what to report ( 36 %), verifying data ( 35 %) and high prices for most sustainability services ( 34 %).

The challenges differ for those who are committed to sustainability and firms which are still yet to . Thirtynine percent of SMEs committed to sustainability say that the risk of operational disruption is a concern , closely followed by the risk of making a loss ( 37 %). By comparison , SMEs who are not committed to sustainability cite not having the right manpower ( 29 %) and not having the right talent ( 23 %) as their biggest hurdles .

Ravi Chidambaram , CEO and Founder of Rimm Sustainability , said : “ SMEs have traditionally been viewed as laggards when it comes to sustainability initiatives given their limited resources and competing priorities . However , in recent years we have witnessed a shift in attitudes with widespread recognition of the importance of sustainability among the UK ’ s SMEs . This is beneficial to all stakeholders in the value chain , including large corporations , as SMEs are usually present within their own value chains and their non-financial performance could make or break the sustainability metrics of larger corporations .” �