The SME Climate Hub is co-hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, the We Mean Business Coalition and the United Nations’ Race to Zero campaign. It has received support from several supply chain leaders, including BT Group, Ericsson, IKEA, Telia and Unilever, and funding support from Amazon and Verizon.
Cirrus Research has become one of the first signatories to the UN-recognised “SME Climate Commitment”, forming part of the SME Climate Hub. In making this commitment, Cirrus Research has pledged to halve its carbon emissions by 2030, achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and report on progress towards these aims regularly.
On the reason behind the company’s decision to join the initiative, Daren Wallis, CEO, said, “As a specialist in noise measurement, we’ve spent the last five decades helping organisations around the world, monitor and control their impact on noise pollution. But we acknowledge that in light of the IPCC report released today, we need to go further, and we’re more committed than ever to minimise our own impact on the environment. Our approach will revolve around our long-standing principle of ensuring that our products last for as long as possible. If you don’t need to replace something, then we don’t need to make it; if we don’t make it, we save the resources. As such, we promise all our customers that their instruments will last for at least 15 years, guaranteed.”
The SME Climate Hub will provide SMEs with a range of accessible tools and resources to help them reduce emissions and build business resilience. The platform will couple these tailored resources with opportunities for businesses to unlock direct commercial incentives. These incentives range from government tax breaks to procurement preferences provided by major businesses such as BT Group, Ericsson, Ikea, Telia and Unilever, all of whom have agreed to work with their SME suppliers to improve climate performance. They have also agreed to provide tools, share knowledge and exchange best practices for implementing robust climate strategies through the SME Climate Hub.
One of the most pressing existential threats to SMEs is the climate emergency. It has the potential to slow economic growth by causing material damage; limiting the availability of resources; driving shifts in demand, leading to business interruptions and production disruptions; causing supply chain interference, and forcing business closures. With 40 to 60 per cent of small businesses never reopening after a disaster, curbing carbon emissions and building business resilience is critical.
As part of our ongoing commitment to the environment, Cirrus Research has also elected to join The Climate Pledge, the cross-sector community committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Daren Wallis said, “We’re not perfect, but we are determined to do the best we can to reduce, reuse, repair and recycle across all areas of our business, including production, distribution and sales and marketing.”
