Do Small-Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) matter to global climate change?

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the impacts of climate change on SMEs, and the impact SMEs have on climate change. The perceptions of managers and owners in SMEs were analysed against current literature on the topic. This was in order to discover the height of awareness on the matter as well as the varying levels of efforts made towards tackling climate change through engagement in sustainable practices. Qualitative methods were used due to the nature of this research, as opinions and thoughts were required in order to capture a sense of the overall perception of each participant. This was carried out through informal semi-structured interviews. The analysis and discussion of the results of this research displayed some key findings. Notably, most participants believe everyone needs to ‘do their bit’ in order to tackle climate change, as there are more SMEs than large companies in the UK and the world. The participants who did not believe this shaped the following key finding - there is a correlation between middle and elderly age groups, and a differing opinion on climate change. Moreover, SMEs are eager to engage in sustainable practices but financial pressures within the company prevent this. This finding also relates to the following - efforts are made by SMEs to engage in reversing climate change mostly due to social and legislative pressures. This study discovers a gap in the literature in which offers a generous foundation for future research exploring the relationship between climate change and SMEs from the perspective of managers and owners.