A recent survey conducted by the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce has shown that 71% of businesses have started their net-zero journey in some way. Of those who were surveyed, the undertakings of their net-zero journey included buying locally, recycling, using electric vehicles, paperless office, sustainable website hosting, re-useable cups, green pledges, and improved travel plans from staff. 65% of those surveyed said they could dedicate 1-3 hours per month to their net-zero journey and 35% could dedicate 1-3 hours per week. From the findings, it appears that no matter the size of the organisation, all are time poor. Even the larger corporates who could have the resource to develop their journey still selected 1-3 hours per month. Whilst access to finance was stated as a barrier, 71% of those we surveyed, had not yet tried to apply for any funding. Identified barriers to net-zero journey:
- Lack of understanding of approach – how to start and measure the journey
- Lack of resources and an understanding of how to tackle a company-wide approach. A need to understand how a larger organisation, with a large staff and multiple sites could approach net-zero?
- Measuring current impact, without incurring the cost of a consultant to help – many small businesses don’t have the budget for that
- Within aviation, there’s no clear methodology when calculating emissions
- Bad data quality
- Challenges with Landlords or heritage buildings
- Legal entanglements between owners of premises and landlords prevent progress
- Negotiating with the landlord, where for many, their main concern is financial cost.
- Heritage sites/assets, which can be difficult to retrofit
- Buy-in / lack of engagement from those within the organisation
- Not getting buy-in to a project from the top of an organisation
- Lack of interest on the part of others
- Differing views on the climate emergency between employees.
- Lack of commitment to see a project through on the client-side
- Financial
- Lack of understanding on what financial support is available i.e is there any funding from local authorities etc?
- Grants to aid the net zero journey may not always be as attractive as they first appear. Some businesses have encountered out of date information, empty funding pots, and many stated the time required to process the application and await the award was an issue
- Many found that large scale procurement framework providers were unreachable – so there was no ability to discuss what could be possible for an SME
- Other Reasons
- Negative perceptions. e.g. some businesses with electric vehicles were criticised – electricity is generated inefficiently and you are unable to dispose of the main battery at end of life
- Poor export tariffs to small electricity generators
Whilst there is an ability to debunk some of the perceptions above, it is not surprising that all these contributing factors and barriers, businesses are struggling with where to start and how to achieve net-zero. The Norfolk Chambers of Commerce Business Climate Leaders programme has been designed and developed to help all Norfolk businesses on their road to net-zero with support from experts across the county. Providing a platform for businesses to collaborate and share stories and experiences to build a community of advocates and helping Norfolk as a county on its own net-zero journey.
