The Green Corridor: How SMEs Move Green

By Timothy Foote, Director Transportation & Network APAC at Asendia

Big or Small – All Can Make the Transition

Small – Medium Enterprises (SMEs) involved with lowering emissions is something close to my own experience because I’ve worked with some outstanding companies, that are not large Multi-National Companies (MNCs), but are small local champions. Their efforts can often surpass those of MNCs. Being small can have real organisational and decision-making advantages compared to large organisations. This month I am providing advice on how small to medium companies can get moving green!

How to Get Started?

Step 1, every journey has to start with a vision. For the logistics industry, that vision is to have zero emissions in the future. The exact date when zero is achieved you can assume will change during the journey, but having that vision accepted and communicated is key. In an SME, this step can be done very quickly and informally. It could be during larger meetings, regular managerial conversations, or during a lunch.

Step 2 is to get the key leaders that you want to drive this transition, trained where needed. Main focus areas for training should be on understanding the sources of emissions, how to measure them, and what initiatives can be used to reduce emissions. In our industry, there will always be the office-generated emissions, the warehouse emissions, travel emissions – but more intense will be the transportation/logistics emissions which we purchase or manage ourselves.

Step 3 then is to establish processes so that the emissions you are generating can be monitored. There are many free sources of information to allow for SMEs to establish this using a spreadsheet. Free emission-calculating spreadsheets for instance, can be downloaded. I’ve used the United Nations’ Climate Neutral Now website to find emissions calculators for my work.

Step 4 then is starting a plan to get your company “into the green”. Using the calculations you have made for a couple of consecutive months in Step 3, you will be able to list in order of emissions quantity the top emission sources. When planning your emission reduction initiatives, try to limit the number to only 4 or 5 at first (these will likely represent 80% or more of your company’s emissions). This can always be expanded to include other areas in the future, but tackle the big stuff with some ideas. In my experience I have always done this step by working with a team. The best ideas on how to reduce emissions often come from having more voices in the room.

With the plan now having been established, Step 5 is to implement, monitor and periodically renew your initiatives. Expect this to take time and start to incorporate reporting on emissions as no different than reporting on financial accounts. You cannot see reducing emissions as a regular project; because the time that is needed to reduce emissions to zero is going to be years away for our industry.

How Can Your Government Help?

A few governments in APAC understand the need for SMEs to be involved with the energy transition. In Singapore, for instance, a great resource for getting started is to download the Sustainability Playbook for Enterprises. When you download the playbook, you will see many links which tell you about government-funded support you can tap into. For Australian small businesses, have a look at the Energy Efficiency Grants for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. Like some other countries in Asia, the focus for Australia is to assist SMEs via funding to upgrade to new equipment that emits less or zero emissions.

These government initiatives aside, universities and even industry groups may be available to provide some training and advice on how to get your SME started with its green journey. It’s been my experience that when I ask my friends in other companies in our industry what their businesses are involved with to bring down emissions, they are often very eager to share everything they know about their programmes.

If you are an SME and you are starting your transition journey, let me know if my advice is helpful. I would really like to know as well what solutions your firm has come up with to reduce emissions. We are all learning and seeking better solutions to reduce emissions. I therefore look forward to any new insights that you can share.