“A leading solution may be hidden in plain sight”

Working in industrial energy efficiency, it has been difficult to tap into the potential for energy savings in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This report from Canada assesses the opportunities for SMEs to cut their carbon emissions. In Europe, this is also a relatively untapped sector that needs addressing, especially to improve its energy performance.

Canada Has “200 Million Tonne Opportunity” to Address Warming

As governments turn over rocks in search of opportunities to cut carbon emissions, a new report concludes that a leading solution may be hidden in plain sight.

Canada’s 1.2+ million small- and medium-sized businesses have direct control over roughly 200 million tonnes of carbon pollution, the same amount produced each year by every car, truck, train, plane, and ship in the country, the report finds. With coaching and support, these businesses could significantly shrink Canada’s overall carbon footprint, its authors conclude.

Climate Smart revealed the findings today in the new report, 200 Million Tonnes of Opportunity: How small and medium-sized businesses are driving Canadian clean growth, available at 200million.ca .

The title refers to the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions under the authority of Canadian small and medium sized businesses, and the opportunity those businesses have to profitably reduce that pollution while helping the nation reach its climate-change goals.

“Hundreds of thousands of printers, restaurateurs, roofers, retailers, and others are already profitably reducing their carbon footprints and driving clean innovation and clean growth,” said Elizabeth Sheehan, the president of Climate Smart. “As Canada works to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, it’s exciting that thousands of private-sector climate champions are already taking the lead.”

The report compiles a decade’s worth of data gleaned from hundreds of companies with fewer than 500 employees, and presents case studies from across the country. The business owners are using a wide range of strategies to profitably reduce carbon emissions, including fleet upgrades, route optimization, heat recovery, employee engagement, and more. The report serves as a how-to manual for staying competitive in the low-carbon economy.

With hands-on training and data analysis, Climate Smart supports companies working to profitably reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and helps governments more effectively engage with private sector partners. The company is a social enterprise and Certified B Corp.