Research finds little incentive for SMEs to go green
New research has revealed that small businesses are unlikely to adopt environmentally friendly practices based on voluntary action, as market forces alone are an insufficient motivation. The finding is based on interviews with 40 small business owners in London and Leeds in the UK, and further 'informants' within industry, government and academia, carried out by researchers at the small business research centre at Kinston University. In the worst case scenarios, the team discovered that market pressures actually encourage bad environmental practice among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). 'Most small firm owners do not accept the [UK] government line that going green is good for business,' said Andrea Revell, one of the study's authors. 'The ecological footprint of SMEs is very significant - they make up 99 per cent of all enterprises and 43 per cent of private sector employment, and are estimated to be responsible for 60 per cent of all industry's carbon dioxide emissions, 60 per cent of commercial waste and eight out of ten pollution accidents.' The head of a firm of architects explained that his clients are simply not interested in sustainable design or construction: 'They're not aware of carbon emissions [...]. Clients are interested in speed and economy and the way the market is at the moment.' He went on to argue that while companies pay lip service to environmental issues, there is little evidence for an increase in environmental design in the UK. Several other interviewees in the construction sector said they were reluctant to push the sustainability agenda for fear of alienating customers. Such arguments were echoed by respondents in the catering and hospitality industries: 'People won't come to your restaurant because you dispose of your bottles and waste in an environmentally friendlier manner than anybody else. You can't advertise or get any increase in custom from it,' said one owner. Others said that they were seldom asked if their ingredients were locally sourced, organic or free from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). All of which led the research team to conclude that regulation represents the only way to effect change among SMEs. 'Legislative sanctions are clearly one way to be certain that the environment becomes a top business priority for small firm owners,' argued Ms Revell. 'Regulation makes the environmental obligation of firms clear from the start, and offers SMEs the security of a level playing field so that environmental good practice is not perceived as a threat to competitiveness,' she concluded.
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