Small businesses are facing a tough choice in the midst of the worst economic crisis in over a century — radically cut greenhouse gas emissions or risk losing their largest clients.
Industry giants including Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Unilever NV have pledged to reduce carbon emissions along their supply chains, which are made up of the kinds of small and medium enterprises that account for over 90% of companies in Europe and employ nearly half of all workers. These firms often don’t have the resources to develop sophisticated climate plans but now, slowly, organizations are stepping in to help.
We Mean Business, a nonprofit that seeks to get large corporations to pledge climate neutrality, recently launched the SME Climate Hub, a platform that encourages small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) to halve their emissions before 2030 and reach net zero before 2050. It will start by offering training and later add services to help businesses calculate and cut their emissions. The initiative is one of the recipients of Amazon.com Inc.’s $2 billion Climate Pledge, which named We Mean Business as a partner in July.