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The Carbon Trust is a private company set up by the Government in response to the threat of climate change. Their stated mission is to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by developing commercial low carbon technologies and working with business and the public sector to reduce carbon emissions. Consequently The Carbon Trust is offering small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) a total of £27 million in interest free loans to invest in more energy-efficient equipment.

The Energy Efficiency Loans scheme allows individual businesses to borrow between £5,000 and £100,000 so they can replace or upgrade equipment with more energy efficient versions. The drive to divert much needed cash flow into up-grading equipment can be minimal for traditional SMEs especially when the equipment in question still does the job required of it.

The push to reduce efficiency follows Carbon Trust research that illustrated that 69% of SMEs had made no investment to reduce carbon emissions. It also coincides with findings from accountancy and business advisory firm Smith & Williamson which found that businesses were viewing environmental improvements as a strategic opportunity. While it may be taking SMEs a little longer to change existing practises it is clear that everyone recognises the problem and also the competitive advantage contained within an improved environmental performance. Not to mention reducing their carbon emissions and doing their bit to combat climate change.

The Carbon Trust loans are set to allow SMEs to make changes to their existing operation in a cost effective way. The savings they will make over the longer term will offset the loan whilst also adding marketing clout to an environmentally aware consumer base. With more and more people concerned about their carbon footprint it follows that consumers will become more and more discerning when it comes to the carbon footprint of the businesses they buy from.