Where We Are in the Journey
In Parts 1 and 2, you established your baseline footprint and set your targets. Now comes the part that actually moves the needle: reducing your emissions.
This is where a lot of SMEs feel the most uncertainty. Decarbonisation can sound like a large scale industrial challenge, something for multinationals with dedicated teams and big budgets. The reality is that most of the highest impact actions available to smaller businesses are practical, affordable, and achievable without a sustainability department.
This guide is organised by impact. We start with the actions that typically deliver the greatest reduction for the least cost, then move towards the more involved but equally important longer term changes. Use your footprint data from Part 1 to identify which areas are most relevant to your business.
pliance risk under the Green Claims Code, which we cover in depth in Part 4 of this series.
The Principle of Reduction First
Before we get into specific actions, one principle is worth making clear.
Genuine net zero is built on genuine reduction. Not on offsetting your way to a headline figure, but on systematically cutting the emissions your business produces. Offsets have a legitimate role (we cover that in Part 5), but they should come after reduction, not instead of it.
Every action in this guide is a step towards real, measurable progress. The goal is to reduce your footprint year on year so that what remains to be offset is as small, and as genuinely unavoidable, as possible.
Area 1: Energy
For most SMEs, energy is one of the most accessible areas to address, and one where cost savings and carbon savings go hand in hand.
Switch to a renewable energy tariff. This is one of the fastest ways to reduce your Scope 2 footprint. A renewable electricity tariff means the power your business uses is matched to energy generated from renewable sources. Check that your supplier provides a Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO)-backed tariff, and ensure this is reflected in your footprint calculation. Costs are often comparable to standard tariffs, particularly for businesses with good procurement leverage.
Conduct an energy audit. Before investing in new equipment or technology, understand where your energy is being used and wasted. Many businesses find that a significant proportion of their energy spend is on poorly insulated premises, outdated heating systems, or equipment left running unnecessarily. An audit, which can often be completed inexpensively or even free through local authority schemes, gives you the evidence to prioritise.
Lighting and equipment efficiency. LED lighting uses up to 80 per cent less energy than older alternatives. Motion sensors in low-traffic areas (corridors, meeting rooms, storage) prevent unnecessary use. Encourage staff to activate power-saving settings on computers and screens. These changes are low cost and often deliver a return on investment within months.
Heating and cooling. Heating and air conditioning typically account for a significant share of building energy use. Improving insulation, upgrading controls, and shifting to heat pumps where feasible can dramatically reduce consumption. For leased premises, engage your landlord about energy performance improvements; an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above is an increasingly common procurement requirement.
On-site renewables. If you own your premises, solar panels are now an established and cost-effective investment. Battery storage technology is improving rapidly. For businesses with significant energy needs, generating your own renewable power reduces both cost and carbon over the long term.
Area 2: Business Travel
Travel is frequently seen as a material contributor to an SME’s footprint, particularly for businesses in professional services, consultancy, or sales-led sectors.
Establish a travel hierarchy. The principle is simple: avoid travel where possible, use lower-carbon options where it is necessary, and offset only as a last resort. A clear, written travel policy gives employees a framework for decision making and makes the business’s expectations explicit.
Make the most of remote working and virtual meetings. The shift to remote and hybrid working has had a measurable impact on business travel emissions. Where a meeting or site visit can be conducted effectively online, that should be the default. Reserve in-person travel for situations where it adds genuine value.
Choose rail over air for domestic travel. For journeys under three to four hours, rail produces a fraction of the emissions of flying. A return flight between London and Edinburgh, for example, produces roughly 15 times more CO2e per passenger than the equivalent train journey. If your business makes frequent domestic trips, a clear preference for rail over air in your travel policy will make a meaningful difference.
Electrify your vehicle fleet. If your business runs company vehicles, electric or plug-in hybrid alternatives will reduce your Scope 1 emissions. The total cost of ownership for electric vehicles is increasingly competitive once fuel and maintenance costs are factored in. Factor charging infrastructure into any new premises decisions.
Address employee commuting. Commuting falls within Scope 3 and is one of the harder areas to influence directly. However, flexible working policies, cycle-to-work schemes, public transport incentives, and car-sharing arrangements all contribute. Including commuting in your footprint calculation is best practice, even if it is estimated rather than precisely measured.
Area 3: Procurement and Supply Chain
For most businesses, the majority of their carbon footprint sits in their supply chain. Purchased goods and services, the materials and components that go into what you sell, and the logistics that move everything around, these all carry embedded emissions that belong to your Scope 3 total.
Addressing supply chain emissions takes more time and engagement than switching an energy tariff. But it is where the biggest long-term reductions are available.
Map your top spend categories. You do not need to engage every supplier at once. Start by identifying your highest spend categories and estimating the carbon intensity of each via spend based metrics. Focus your initial engagement on the two or three areas where you are likely to find the most significant emissions.
Ask your suppliers about their carbon footprint. This does not need to be a formal audit process to begin with. Simply asking suppliers whether they measure their emissions, and sharing your own commitment to net zero, opens the conversation. Suppliers increasingly expect these questions. Those that cannot or will not engage may become a risk to your own credibility over time.
Include sustainability criteria in procurement decisions. When selecting or renewing supplier contracts, factor in their environmental credentials alongside price and quality. This does not mean choosing a more expensive option every time. It means making the environmental question a standard part of the assessment, not an afterthought.
Reduce packaging and materials waste. For businesses that produce physical products, packaging is often a significant source of embedded carbon. Review your packaging specifications: can materials be reduced, lightened, or replaced with lower-carbon alternatives? Can packaging be designed to be reused or recycled more easily?
Consider your logistics. Freight and delivery emissions are frequently overlooked. Consolidating shipments, optimising delivery routes, and working with logistics partners who are actively reducing their own emissions can all significantly contribute to your Scope 3 reduction.
Area 4: Waste
Waste is often a smaller contributor to an SME footprint than energy or travel, but it is one of the easier areas to address and has a visible, cultural dimension that can help build engagement across a team.
Conduct a waste audit. Before you can reduce waste, you need to understand what you are generating, how much of it, and how it is currently being disposed of. A simple audit, even a manual sort of waste bins over a week, will reveal patterns and opportunities.
Maximise recycling and reduce landfill. Waste sent to landfill generates methane as it decomposes, one of the more potent greenhouse gases. Increasing recycling rates and reducing the volume going to landfill will reduce this contribution. Ensure your waste contractor provides segregated collection and data on disposal routes.
Reduce paper and printing. Transitioning to digital processes and reducing unnecessary printing cuts both waste and the embedded carbon in paper production. A default double-sided, greyscale setting and a clear desk policy both help in practice.
Food waste. If your business has a kitchen or canteen, food waste is worth addressing. Reducing food waste means fewer emissions from decomposition and less embedded carbon wasted in food production. Simple measures, such as smaller batch preparation and better stock management, can make a meaningful difference.
Area 5: Engaging Your Team
Emission reductions do not happen in isolation. They happen through the decisions and behaviours of people across your business every day.
This means investing in awareness and education so that staff understand why this matters and what they can do within their own roles. It means recognising and celebrating progress, not just reporting numbers. And it means making sustainability a part of how you recruit, onboard, and develop people.
A team that understands the mission is one of the most powerful reduction tools available to an SME. It costs very little and compounds over time.
We cover building a net zero culture in more depth in a related blog in this series.
How to Prioritise When You Cannot Do Everything at Once
Every SME faces resource constraints. You cannot address every area simultaneously. Here’s a practical approach to prioritisation:
Start with your highest-impact, lowest-cost actions. Renewable energy tariffs, LED lighting, and a basic travel policy are often achievable within weeks and deliver immediate, measurable results.
Use your footprint data to guide you. The category that represents the largest share of your emissions is where reduction has the greatest absolute impact. Do not spend most of your effort on a small category because it is more convenient.
Build momentum with visible wins. Internally and externally, early progress builds confidence and commitment. Choose some actions that will show results quickly, even if they are not the highest-impact in the long term.
Phase the more complex work. Supply chain engagement, product redesign, and large capital investments take time. Plan for them in your roadmap rather than expecting them to happen immediately.
Your Action Checklist for Part 3
- Switch to a renewable energy tariff if you have not already done so.
- Conduct or commission an energy audit of your main premises.
- Draft a travel policy that establishes a preference for lower-carbon options.
- Identify your top three supply chain spend categories and begin conversations with key suppliers.
- Review your waste disposal contracts and identify opportunities to increase recycling.
- Run a team session to share your net zero commitment and invite ideas for reduction actions.
- Document every action taken against your baseline year so you can measure the impact in your next footprint assessment.
What Is Coming Next
In Part 4 of the SME Net Zero Series, we look at how to communicate your progress. How to report your footprint in a way that is credible and compliant. How to use your sustainability credentials to win more business. And what you need to know about the Green Claims Code before putting anything in your marketing.
NCZ works with SMEs to identify the most impactful reduction opportunities and track progress year on year with independently verified data. If you would like help prioritising your reduction strategy, our team is ready to support you.