Ten steps towards net zero – a framework for SMEs

The net zero puzzle didn’t get any easier for small and medium sized companies in 2024, yet there is a growing expectation that they should all be doing something. Especially those selling into the UK public sector where procurement rules require at least a commitment statement if not a full Carbon Reduction Plan.

The question is how to start? Time and money is short, so let’s take a look at what can be done for the best effect without breaking the bank or the company. 

I developed a simple framework to help put some structure into this challenge. It has been proven in multiple workshops and helped many companies to define their net zero path, so I thought I would share it more widely to contribute to the debate.

As a long-term project manager I welcome anything that helps to add discipline and control in a changing environment, so here are the ten steps that I have worked with. It is not a detailed instruction manual, it is an introductory guide, the specifics come later to fill in the blanks. Only then can we pick a few strategic initiatives and turn them into actionable plans.

The ten steps

Let’s begin with the evaluation and planning phase, laid out as four preliminary actions.

1 Calculate your carbon footprint

Good decisions are rooted in understanding where you are and what you are hoping to achieve. A great starting place is to go to the SME Climate Hub and use their links to start a carbon calculation.

It’s a simple form filling exercise using a selection of your company data that you put into a web form. It’s free, and quite straightforward, but if you need any help, just let me know.

2 Set carbon objectives and policies

This is the strategy part where you lay out the big objectives that sit alongside your wider business strategy. They may include the extent of reductions you can work towards, the time frame over which that may be possible and the strategic positions you wish to adopt. This will evolve through the following stages, but it is important to start somewhere with the overall goals.

3 Prepare the carbon reduction plan

Your footprint will reveal where the biggest emissions are taking place and help you to prioritise and evaluate the art of the possible. We are not planning in detail yet, this is still big-picture stuff, but it gives a platform from which to engage with stakeholders like staff, customers, suppliers, investors and other partners.

4 Engage staff

The final part of the preparation phase is to get the company culture aligned with the goals and be confident that this is a shared initiative across the whole team. So much of what follows is driven by detail behaviours of everyone involved.

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The initiatives that arise from this phase will typically fall across five threads. I am not offering them in a particular sequence or priority order as each case will be different. They are simply here as a checklist of the things you may need to act on.

5 Make buildings more efficient

Your facilities will drive much of your energy consumption and emissions, so looking at features such as light, heat, ventilation, and process equipment will be a valuable exercise. The goal is to maximise the performance of the available facilities, ensure fitness for purpose, and if not, look at changes to optimise.

6 Energy supply options

This covers matters of where and how you buy energy, how much you use and when. If you really understand your energy usage, its types, timing, drivers, peaks and troughs, then you can look at ways to reduce it. You can also talk to your energy providers about low-carbon offerings and look at other opportunities like self-generation or power purchase agreements.

7 Transport options

As with energy, your transportation and the things that stimulate it will provide opportunities to reduce and optimise. You can also look at the types of travel you use, and make choices that feed back into the policies mentioned in item 2.

8 Minimise waste and recycle

Often a surprisingly large factor, avoidable waste responds to behaviours, procurement and storage choices. Clever production engineering may reduce offcuts or process waste. Naturally, where waste cannot be avoided, finding ways for it to be re-used or recycled extends its usefulness.

9 Optimise supply chain

Just as many SMEs are challenged by their larger customers, you can also set standards and make good choices in your own supply chain. It is a delicate balance if ‘good’ means more expensive, but we have a chance to argue a more holistic value proposition both up and down the supply chain. There are tools to help with the ‘softer’ business cases that this implies.

10 Offset

If you can reach a state of minimum operational emissions, then if you are truly driven by the ‘zero’ part of net zero you can invest in external initiatives known as offsetting. This is an evolving concept and not all schemes are equal, so tread carefully.  There are costs involved, and this all ties back into your business case and strategic goals that were developed in step 2 above.