SME sector can 'contribute to the fight against climate change'

05/08/2010

The potential for the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector to contribute towards the fight against climate change will increase as energy prices rise.

This is the view of David Caro, chair of the Federation of Small Business's (FSB) environment and energy committee.

Talking to Greenwisebusiness.co.uk, Mr Caro explained that peak oil is going to be the stimulus for the SME sector to look at energy efficiency.

However, Mr Caro believes The Carbon Trust has focused far too much on big companies and that there are still barriers to accessing Carbon Trust loans.

"They are moving in the right direction and I have sympathy for the Carbon Trust, which only has a limited amount of money.

"But the disappointing thing is they’ve raised the criteria for CO2 loans from one and half tonnes saved to two and half tonnes. That makes life much more difficult for SMEs," he explained.

Last month, the Sustainable Development Commission published a report concluding that not enough has been done to make SMEs become more energy efficient.

Posted by Richard Smart