...but need financial support so they don't go into the red, says the UK's Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
A new report by the FSB - Making Sense of Going Green - highlights the need for environmental support that is tailored specifically to take account of the circumstances of SMEs. As well as finance, the report also identifies other areas of specific support - including smart metering and specialist information.
Whilst the report is focussed particularly on UK national policy, there are a number of areas that are particulalry relevant to work within ANSWER. As, David Caro(Chairman of the FSB Environment Committee) writes, there are huge financial and environmental gains to be made from greening SMEs, but to achieve these we need "carefully targeted support and the right incentives to overcome (the) barriers".
ANSWER's work with businesses aims to identify and tackle the obstacles specific to SMEs, including up-front finance, recognition to encourage what Mr Caro calls the "benefits of being seen to be green" and provision of tailored information.
All of this aims to place our SMEs at the forefront of the green economy, and realise some of the estimated 20% savings available from energy efficiency measures.
To read the full report from the FSB, go to www.fsb.org.uk
To find out more about ANSWER's work with businesses, go to http://www.answerproject.eu/activities/lower_carbon_business.