A new sustainability skills programme to help small firms realise their growing climate action ambitions is being launched at Oxford Brookes University following the COP26 summit.

Small Business Britain and Oxford Brookes Business School have developed the new programme, after their joint research showed a huge appetite among small businesses to reduce carbon emissions, but that key barriers are preventing many from taking action.

The research pointed to a high level of sustainability consciousness among entrepreneurs, with 71 per cent saying they want to do more in the next two years to reduce carbon emissions. Yet 41 per cent feel access to finance limits them, while 30% are concerned about the time commitment.

The new ‘Small Business Sustainability Basics programme’ is a free, online, six-week short course delivered in partnership with Oxford Brookes Business School and leading sustainability experts. It aims to increase the awareness of small business owners about sustainability and net zero, as well as providing practical insights to realise green growth opportunities.

The scheme will run from March to May this year, providing guidance across a whole range of sustainability areas from energy use and transport, to supply chain and offsetting.It is open to all small businesses to take part and will feature experts including Ciaran Armstrong, Co-Founder of Sustainable Pathways and Adam Bastock, Founder of Small99.

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