Financial support

for reducing emissions

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To help you to capture the opportunities that decarbonisation can create, this section of the SME Climate Hub is designed to help you find the most appropriate financial support for your business’ journey to net zero.

Financial support is becoming available on improved terms for businesses reducing their emissions – called here ‘discounted lending’ or ‘financial support on preferential terms’.

 

Success Stories

Eight stories of businesses that have found financial support and are taking action to decarbonise

How to choose which financial support is best for you

Understanding which avenue of financial support is best for you will depend on the specifics of your business, geography and, importantly, what you are looking to invest in.

Be sure to visit the SME Climate Hub’s short course, which includes advice on how best to rank available financial opportunities.

To ensure that financial support for SME decarbonisation continues to improve, over the next year the SME Climate Hub will work with banks and buyers to explore what new forms of finance they might be able to offer. If you would like to be involved with this research and development you can

Potential sources of financial support – summary table

Stakeholder

Motivation for providing financial support

Examples of what financial support might be available

Examples of who you could speak with to learn if support offered

Customers (buyers)

  • Climate commitments by companies that include reducing the emissions of their supply chain
  • Improve the resilience of their supply chain to new policies aimed to avert climate change or the negative impacts of climate change
  • Protect supply chain from increased costs associated with carbon, such as ‘dirty’ energy
  • Improved purchasing terms (eg, days receivable reduced so working capital improves for small business)
  • Access to preferential invoice finance (eg, borrow against outstanding purchase orders to access funds sooner)
  • Advice and mentoring
  • Procurement representative

Banks

  • Commitments by banks to support customers to reduce emissions
  • Reduce the risk and carbon footprint of bank lending
  • Strengthen relationships and generate business opportunitie
  • Working capital solutions, e.g. trade finance
  • Loans for investments that reduce emissions
  • Emission calculators and advice
  • Relationship manager
  • Sector specialist (eg, transport)

Grants and other forms of government support

  • Local, national and international objectives for action on climate change
  • Grants to encourage investment in emissions reduction
  • Discounted lending distributed by a development bank, such as KfW
  • Access to investors or other sources of funds dedicated to climate action
  • Accountant
  • Local council enterprise officer
  • Local municipality
  • Bank
  • NGOs offering financial support in your area

Balance sheet and investors

  • Lower operational expenditures
  • Improve the commercial positioning of the business (eg, including alignment with buyers’ climate-related procurement policies)
  • Investors’ climate objectives
  • Self-funded from balance sheet (cash, asset sales, etc.)
  • New shareholder investment (equity)
  • Accountant
  • Current shareholders
  • Prospective investors

Customers (buyers)

Motivation for providing financial support

  • Climate commitments by companies that include reducing the emissions of their supply chain
  • Improve the resilience of their supply chain to new policies aimed to avert climate change or the negative impacts of climate change
  • Protect supply chain from increased costs associated with carbon, such as ‘dirty’ energy

Examples of what financial support might be available

  • Improved purchasing terms (eg, days receivable reduced so working capital improves for small business)
  • Access to preferential invoice finance (eg, borrow against outstanding purchase orders to access funds sooner)
  • Advice and mentoring

Examples of who you could speak with to learn if support offered

  • Procurement representative

Banks

Motivation for providing financial support

  • Commitments by banks to support customers to reduce emissions
  • Reduce the risk and carbon footprint of bank lending
  • Strengthen relationships and generate business opportunitie

Examples of what financial support might be available

  • Working capital solutions, e.g. trade finance
  • Loans for investments that reduce emissions
  • Emission calculators and advice

Examples of who you could speak with to learn if support offered

  • Relationship manager
  • Sector specialist (eg, transport)

Grants and other government support

Motivation for providing financial support

  • Local, national and international objectives for action on climate change

Examples of what financial support might be available

  • Grants to encourage investment in emissions reduction
  • Discounted lending distributed by a development bank, such as KfW
  • Access to investors or other sources of funds dedicated to climate action

Examples of who you could speak with to learn if support offered

  • Accountant
  • Local council enterprise officer
  • Local municipality
  • Bank
  • NGOs offering financial support in your area

Balance sheet and existing or prospective investors

Motivation for providing financial support

  • Lower operational expenditures
  • Improve the commercial positioning of the business (eg, including alignment with buyers’ climate-related procurement policies)
  • Investors’ climate objectives

Examples of what financial support might be available

  • Self-funded from balance sheet (cash, asset sales, etc.)
  • New shareholder investment (equity)

Examples of who you could speak with to learn if support offered

  • Accountant
  • Current shareholders
  • Prospective investors