Net Zero actions and Scottish Businesses

Building evidence on whether and how Scottish Companies are adopting Net Zero activities; identifying the benefits of Net Zero measures to businesses; identifying the challenges of adopting Net Zero measures. Data has come from a range of different sources often based on survey results. For this reason, some of the figures differ. For the summary we have chosen to use the ONS’s BICS survey for high level results in order to minimise confusion.

The methodology consisted of desk research.

Finds that: 65.2% of responding businesses had taken actions to reduce their carbon emissions while 15% had taken no actions and 25% were unsure; the types of actions taken varied – from installing LED bulbs (41%) to adjusting heating and cooling systems (37.3%) and going paperless (25.1%); businesses were much less likely to undertake more significant changes such as installing smart meters (12.9%), insulating buildings (7.8%) or installing renewable systems (6.9%); Manufacturing, Transport and Wholesale and Construction having the highest levels of actions taken, while Accommodation and Food service businesses have the lowest levels. Benefits and barriers have been identified.

No recommendations were made.