Are Businesses Building Back Greener?

Published Thursday 3rd March 2022

Sustainability in business means creating long-term value by taking into account how you, as an organisation, operate with regard to the environmental crisis. The pressure is on for corporate responsibility, and consumers are looking for companies to be more transparent with how becoming more environmentally-friendly and sustainable fits into their work ethos.

Even the UK government has taken a stand and announced their plans to ‘Build Back Greener’, encouraging companies across the UK to join the fight against climate change. In this article, we look at what it means to build back greener and whether or not businesses have taken the message on board.

What is ‘Build Back Greener’?

Just days before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, the UK government announced an environmental strategy which they referred to as ‘Build Back Greener’. The bold plan speaks on ways in which the government will support the UK economy as businesses transition into a greener and more sustainable future.

The strategy was announced alongside the significant package of public funding that will be used in order to help the UK on its ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution. This plan will entail:

Advancing offshore wind,
Driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen,
Delivering new and advanced nuclear power,
Accelerating the shift to zero-emission vehicles,
Green public transport, cycling and walking,
‘Jet zero’ and green ships,
Greener buildings,
Investing in carbon capture, usage and storage,
Protecting our natural environment,
Green finance and innovation.

The plan itself is funded by £12 billion in government investments with the potential extra of three times that amount from the private sector. This plan could also help to create up to 250,000 green jobs.

This plan also outlines several measures intended to integrate environmental considerations into the Whitehall decision-making process, such as:

Climate change training for civil servants,
Requiring officials to incorporate five environmental principles in policy making,
Extending the £475m p.a. Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme delivering emissions reductions in schools, hospitals and other public buildings,
Publishing an annual progress update so progress towards Net Zero can be measured.

However, though the government may have published this plan, how much of it has actually been put into effect?

Following the announcement of this initiative, a study found that, mostly, businesses were on board with the government’s plans to go green. In fact, three-fifths of business owners thought that the shift towards a greener economy would present positive opportunities for the businesses involved.

What’s more, a recent poll had also found that the majority of business owners were reporting that their customers and employees alike were demanding more action from them to be more environmentally conscious.

Over three-fifths think that the move to a greener economy presents positive opportunities for businesses, with only eight per cent disagreeing. The Opinium poll also finds that most business owners report their customers and employees are demanding more action to protect the environment.

Now some more good news: the UK isn’t short of innovative entrepreneurs aiming to solve these big problems. The report has seven case studies to illustrate the great work being done to tackle them.

Since it was announced in October 2021, there have been a number of cases where businesses have started doing their part to ‘Build Back Greener’. Below are a few of the most notable examples where businesses in the UK have taken the advice of the government to work towards a greener future.

Too Good To Go

The handy mobile app, Too Good To Go, was founded with the intention of reducing food waste across the country. Whether it’s day-old doughnuts or uncollected meals, over a third of food produced in the UK goes to waste.

As a way to tackle this, Too Good To Go partners with businesses to sell their unwanted food on the app for people to buy at a greatly discounted rate. Since it was founded, Too Good To Go has been working with 18,218 businesses to help reduce their food waste.

Jaime Crummie, the cofounder of Too Good To Go, said about the Build Back Greener initiative:

“It’s a win-win. It’s a win for our businesses who are able to recover sunk costs on food that would otherwise go to waste. It is a win for our consumers who are able to enjoy and discover amazing food at prices that don’t cost the earth, and, ultimately, it is a win for the environment as amazing food isn’t going to waste.”

Supermarkets

Even big-name supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Morrisons are taking steps towards a greener future.

Asda, in particular, outlined their goals for working towards a greener future with both a short- and long-term vision, which includes:

Eliminating carbon emissions
Sourcing and farming which respects and restores nature
Elimination of waste and packaging.

Asda is also taking a step towards helping customers shop more sustainably without breaking the bank.

How To Build Back Greener

If you’re looking to follow in these companies’ footsteps by joining in with the Building Back Greener initiative, then there are a number of simple ways to do so.

Reducing energy usage or switching to a renewable provider
Reducing waste by encouraging recycling and not buying more materials than needed
Switching to local and sustainable suppliers/partners
Measuring and reducing your carbon footprint.

The first step to being more sustainability-conscious is becoming aware of the ways your business is not being as green as it should be. Once you begin tracking and understanding your business’s energy consumption and carbon footprint, you will be one step closer to helping the UK reach its net-zero targets.

If you would like more advice on how your company can work towards becoming more sustainable — either through changes in internal processes or by changing the products you use day-to-day — please get in touch and speak with an expert member of our team today.

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