i10 is delighted to join the SME Climate Hub and become recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero Campaign
i10 Founder and Director Mark Hastings said "This is a further illustration of our determination to take positive action over climate change. There is too much talk and not enough action. We are already carbon negative and have exciting plans to go even further! We call on other businesses to follow our lead."
Background
The SME Climate Hub provides small and medium-sized businesses like i10 with a one-stop shop to make a climate commitment and access best-in-class tools and resources to mitigate their environmental impact and build resilient businesses for the future.
The SME Climate Hub was founded by the We Mean Business Coalition, Exponential Roadmap Initiative, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the United Nations Race to Zero campaign in collaboration with Oxford University and Normative. This partnership is an exercise in radical collaboration that allows SMEs to join the United Nations Race to Zero, an international campaign that brings together an unprecedented coalition of real economy actors and 120 governments committed to achieving net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.
i10 is one of over 2,600 SMEs across 84 different countries have made the commitment, with key sectors including retail, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, technology. Learn more at: www.smeclimatehub.org
Mission
Small to medium-sized enterprises account for 90% of business worldwide and affect the livelihoods of over 2 billion people. However, in the global effort to mitigate climate change, large businesses and governments have largely been the focus of the discussion. The SME Climate Hub aims to bring all businesses on board to net zero.
The SME Climate Hub mobilises and supports small and medium-sized businesses to commit to cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero emissions before 2050 — a milestone aimed at avoiding the worst effects of climate change while ensuring business viability.
Business Resilience
By taking climate action through the SME Climate Hub, small businesses can better navigate the shifting expectations of consumers, large corporations, and governments.
Climate action gives SMEs a competitive advantage and enables them to future-proof their business by:
Improving efficiencies and reducing costs
Managing business risk
Enhancing access to capital and affordable insurance
Providing unique growth opportunities
Building supply chain resilience and
Strengthening marketing and branding efforts.
Supply Chain Resilience
Large corporations from every industry and region of the world are setting net-zero goals to align with science and build business resilience. To meet these goals, multinational corporations are accelerating decarbonization demands for SMEs in their global supply chains and steering their procurement process towards climate action in suppliers.
Small businesses often lack the resources needed to decarbonize. Multinational companies, governments, and tools such as those provided by the SME Climate Hub need to bridge the gap, to ensure no one is left behind in the transition to net zero.
Several major multinational corporations, including Ericsson, IKEA, Telia, BT Group and Unilever, Nestlé and Tech Mahindra, have set targets to reach net-zero emissions in their value chains, and they have committed to supporting the SME Climate Hub through the 1.5°C Supply Chain Leaders, a group of multinational corporations accelerating climate action throughout their global supply chains.
Community
Joining the SME Climate Hub allows small businesses to join a community of like-minded companies prioritising climate action. Committed companies can position themselves at the forefront of their industries, alongside other leading players.
International recognition
The SME Climate Commitment is the official pathway for small and medium-sized businesses to join the Race to Zero. Businesses like i10 that commit to the SME Climate Hub will be globally recognized by the United Nations’ Race to Zero campaign.
Call to Action
i10 and the SME Climate Hub call on small and medium-sized businesses from around the world to join the commitment, and on national governments to take ambitious steps to build local SME climate action.
The science is clear: we need to halve our emissions by 2030 to deliver a zero-carbon world in time. To meet this goal, every business, no matter their size or industry, has a role to play. We need all companies around the world to commit to a net-zero future.