Thursday 5 May 2022

More than half UK businesses say they’ll hit net zero by 2027

More than half the world’s companies say they will achieve net zero within five years.

That’s according to a study by ABB, which looked into the energy habits of almost 2,300 companies in 13 countries.

Despite optimism around net zero targets, only 40% of these businesses are planning to make energy efficiency improvements this year.

Cost was touted the main barrier by half the respondents, with 37% putting this down to a lack of time devoted to it.

Although the majority were not looking to improve energy efficiency, overall, 23% of these businesses’ yearly operating costs were spent on energy usage.

Rising energy costs were perceived to be a threat to profitability by 90% of companies, however, movement was slow on actually doing something to combat this.

Tarak Mehta, President of ABB Motion, commented: “It is vital to help stakeholders across industry understand that net zero need not mean net cost.

“Both suppliers and governments have a role to play in promoting the message that adopting energy efficient technology offers a fast return on investment while cutting carbon emissions. The bottom line is that energy efficiency is good for business and good for the environment.”