September 21 – 27 is New York Climate Week. The largest climate summit this year, it is focusing on a net-zero future as we rebuild from COVID-19.
The event, hosted on a digital platform, will cover:
- clean energy transition
- climate impacts and adaptation
- finance, investment, and jobs
- food and land use
As part of this global symposium, a coalition of companies is launching the SME Climate Hub, a “ground breaking one-stop-shop climate action platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to curb carbon emissions, build business resilience and gain competitive advantage.”
The hub is a tool to help encourage and empower smaller businesses to reduce their carbon and greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Companies that make this commitment gain access to tools and resources that can help them reach their goals. In addition to planet-friendly information, the platform will also encourage market resilience and provide business opportunities to unlock commercial incentives.
The coronavirus has disrupted business world-wide. The SME Climate Hub will focus on enabling small businesses to “leverage climate action as a means of winning and retaining business, reducing costs, enhancing access to capital and increasing business preparedness to external shocks.”
Made possible by Amazon and a coalition of businesses called “We Mean Business” the SME Climate Hub has support of several big-name companies such as Ericsson, IKEA, Telia, BT Group, and Unilever, who have also set zero-emission targets of their own. Additionally, they have pledged to include climate-related performance and purchasing criteria in their supply chains and to assist SMEs to adopt and reach similar goals.
“Addressing climate change has never been so business critical. We are delighted to partner with like-minded organisations to bring to life the SME Climate Hub and help support the companies that make up the backbone of our global economy, in the face of the increasing risks of climate change. We want to make it as easy as possible for small and medium-sized businesses to protect and grow their business,” said John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
“Mobilizing SMEs to take action is critical. It is fantastic to see the SME Climate Hub making it easy for small and medium-sized companies to take action. At the We Mean Business coalition we have seen large companies gain competitive advantage over their peers through taking climate action. SMEs with climate action plans will position themselves to become the most attractive suppliers to the hundreds of multinationals with decarbonization plans as well as to the growing number of investors now addressing climate related risk,” said María Mendiluce, CEO, the We Mean Business coalition.
For more information about the SME Climate Hub, visit: www.smeclimatehub.org
