Australia’s small and
medium businesses lack leadership on environmental issues, leaving many
stranded and unable to make changes that will reduce their carbon
footprint and boost their bottom lines, a new survey has revealed.

The quarterly survey shows that while 66 per cent of 800 small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) want to take action on climate change, many
feel powerless because they do not know how.

Despite nearly three-quarters of small and medium businesses believing
they are environmentally friendly, the SME Sustainability Index derived
from the survey shows they are actually doing very little to reduce
their carbon footprint.

The survey was conducted by AFS, a specialist market research company,
and Net Balance, Australia’s largest dedicated sustainability
advisory and assurance firm.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are more than
300,000 small and medium businesses in Australia that employ over four
million people, or 42 per cent of the total number of people employed.

AFS Executive Chairman Drew Le Grand said together they generated 46
per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product.

“The owners and managers of these businesses want to take
action on climate change and believe their actions will have a
significant impact but there is a shortage of guidance from industry
groups and government,” Mr Le Grand said.

“Our research shows that more than 70 per cent of Australian
SMEs are investigating, adapting or adopting environmentally
sustainable processes as a priority in their operations.

“For many SMEs reducing their paper, water and energy use and
cutting their waste, is lowering costs and benefiting their bottom
line, but more complex activities could boost their profits even more
and have a greater impact on climate change.”

Owners, general managers, chief executives and financial officers of
800 businesses employing five to 200 people were interviewed as part of
the survey.

The businesses are members of 14 industries, including manufacturing,
business services, retail, IT&T, agriculture, healthcare,
education, personal services and logistics and transport.

Net Balance Director Terence Jeyaretnam said over the past 12 months,
more than two thirds of the businesses surveyed had taken steps to
become more environmentally friendly.

“Over 50 per cent of SMEs are concerned about their
businesses’ contribution to climate change,” Mr
Jeyaretnam said.

“But what is more striking is that more than a third of the
decision makers in these businesses are willing to

take action even though they are not concerned about the impact their
businesses are having on climate change.”

AFS and Net Balance devised a SME Sustainability Index by measuring the
responses of the businesses surveyed against 21 environmentally
sustainable activities weighted according to their complexity.
 

“Many businesses are undertaking simpler activities,
including reducing paper, water, packaging, energy and chemical use and
cutting waste,” Mr Jeyaretnam said.

“But more complex activities, such as community engagement,
greener purchasing policies, access to grants and the development of
green products, are still to be investigated and adopted.

“The resulting index of 14.1 out of 100 shows that while they
are willing to make environmentally friendly changes to their
businesses, they are in fact doing very little to reduce
their carbon footprint.

“It is also surprising that despite the global financial
crisis, most of the businesses surveyed were more concerned about
energy efficiency (40 per cent) and managing waste (33 per cent) than
their ability to access credit (27 per cent).”

Mr Jeyaretnam said one in four organisations found that a
“sustainable” image helped them recruit the best
employees.

“Seventy per cent of businesses said finding the right talent
for their business was a major concern,” he said.

“International experience shows that businesses which develop
a reputation for sustainability can attract the best
recruits.”

Further research results to follow

About
AFS 'Smart askers'
AFS 'Smart askers' is an information services company, specialising in
survey data collection across Australia and New Zealand. AFS is
recognised for its superiority in reaching business decision makers;
all projects run with AFS have ISO quality accreditation.

About
Net Balance
Net Balance is Australia’s largest sustainability advisory
and assurance firm with offices in Melbourne and Sydney.  Net
Balance works with some of Australia’s largest companies and
brands on sustainability and with SMEs through Net Balance Foundation
(www.netbalance.org).

Full details, expert comment, and
images at: www.afs-smart.com.au/afss.htm