Danske Bank's Head of Climate Risk and Strategy has said that businesses which take even small climate action steps stand to see increased profits in the future.
It's tempting to think of climate action as something that only large corporations can have any measurable impact on, but there are measures that small businesses can take to make their businesses more sustainable and reduce direct and indirect CO2 emissions. Many business owners also think that climate action will cost them a lot of money.
Danske's Head of Climate Risk and Strategy Chris Martin says the opposite is true, that it's the local businesses that take small climate action steps today that stand to profit more and save on costs in the future. On the latest Danske Bank Advantage podcast, Chris said that local firms can't afford to ignore the issue, especially if they want to continue doing business globally.
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One example he gave of a small action businesses can take was investing in a green energy strategy, as fossil fuels are beginning to be phased out across Europe. Carbon taxes are set to increase over time, and those businesses that invest in green energy now will be future-proofed against it.
Chris said: "NI is an SME economy - many of our businesses are involved in supply chains providing goods and services to people in UK, Europe and beyond. With the climate agenda growing and governments around the world asking very direct questions to big businesses about their climate plans, even smaller businesses here in NI who didn’t think this really impacts them, will soon need to demonstrate their own credentials very clearly."
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Community NI's Head of Environmental Sustainability Géraldine Noé joined Chris on the podcast and had a very similar message to Northern Ireland's small businesses, advising companies to take that first step of analysing their climate impact now so that they can start making plans to address these issues.
Géraldine commented: "We are used to seeing impacts at the other end of the world – extreme weather events like the fires in Australia – but climate change is already having an impact in NI too, where we’ve already seen an increase in storms, flooding and even heatwaves. Thinking this only happens at other end of the world is not the right way to approach this."
Head over to Danske's podcast page to listen to the full podcast.
Source: Written based on press release
