Enabling local climate action towards net zero at community level: evaluating toolkits for SMEs and the voluntary sector

Enabling local climate action towards net zero at community level: evaluating toolkits for SMEs and the voluntary sector With countries and municipalities across the globe making climate change commitments towards ‘Net Zero’ carbon emissions within their region, there is an increasing need for strong engagement by all sectors of society, including citizens, businesses and communities. In parallel, the civic role of universities is creating a driver for them to support place-based responses to the climate emergency within their locality by leveraging their knowledge, skills and resources. This paper offers an example of where these agendas coincide, with two UK universities in the city of Leicester collaborating with the local municipality and business development networks to enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) to develop net zero decarbonisation plans. The two target sectors both have significant roles to play – SMEs because they account for 60% of private sector employment and VSOs because as member-led or community-oriented organisations, they have strong opportunities to support public engagement processes.

Over a one-year period, a self-service toolkit for organisations to develop decarbonisation plans was piloted with ten VSOs and forty SMEs. The toolkit includes a series of prompts and questions along with supporting guidance that can be used to devise a stated commitment to reducing carbon emissions and an annual plan of actions addressing energy in buildings, transport, procurement and learning. The engagement and evaluation process enabled each organisation to share views on their support needs, to pilot using the tool and to share evaluative feedback through surveys and/or interviews on its effectiveness.

The findings highlight some of the key learning and resource needs articulated by organisations in these sectors and their priority actions on a pathway towards net zero. The widely differing levels of existing knowledge and engagement within these organisations also highlight the need for a broad range of support approaches, from entry-level to context-specific technical guidance.