Big news here at Ecologi HQ! Ecologi Zero is working with Xero to help scale up net-zero in the UK. Our carbon footprinting tool has officially joined the Xero App Store. This joining-of-forces will give thousands of UK service-based small businesses the option to calculate their carbon footprint for free, making it much easier to take climate action and start their net-zero journey. It’s also a big step towards helping the UK decarbonise faster, so we’re really proud of it.

Unlocking carbon footprinting for small businesses

In the past, carbon footprinting has required a team of expensive consultants to calculate a manual snapshot of emissions. This was far beyond the reach of most small businesses. But that’s history. This is now.

We designed Ecologi Zero Beta for UK-based small businesses operating in the services industries. The tool’s listing on the UK Xero App Store will give thousands of these businesses the option to easily calculate their carbon footprint for free.

By connecting Ecologi Zero and Xero, businesses can efficiently calculate their carbon footprint and gain insights into their emissions – much faster than they’d be able to otherwise, at no cost, and based entirely on existing data. So it’s officially time for businesses to stop guessing and start taking action.

It also means that businesses can look outside their direct business emissions and at the suppliers that they work with across their supply chains. Cleaning up supply chain emissions is vital for reaching net-zero, as they can account for up to 90% of a business’ total emissions.

The time is now

This joining-of-forces feels particularly timely for us, as COP27 saw calls for stronger guidance around net-zero pledges. Yet, according to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), just 177 small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) submitted net-zero targets during 2021. That’s less than 1% of the 5.6 million SMEs in the UK – not great.

A 2021 survey by the British Business Bank also found that only 6% of SMEs are likely to have measured their carbon footprint in the last five years (despite SMEs making up 99% of the UK business population and contributing half of all business-driven emissions in the UK). Ecologi’s own research shows that 8 in 10 businesses want to be greener, but don’t know where to start. And it’s no surprise that the major barrier is cost.

Our CEO, Elliot Coad said:

“The 1.5 goal may now be unachievable without a major transformation in how businesses operate. If the UK is to reach net-zero by 2050, we need businesses, government and wider society to urgently come together to reduce emissions. At Ecologi, we want to build trust around the decarbonisation process, showing businesses that taking climate action can be simple and rewarding – with no prior experience needed.”

Let’s make this journey together

Now that we’re on the Xero App Store, more UK small businesses will have the tools they need to get started on their net-zero journey. That means zero excuses, zero limits and zero reasons to wait.

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