Report: The UK and Netherlands are leading the way in industrial decarbonisation

Over 90 per cent of Europe’s industrial SME bosses say decarbonisation is compatible with their businesses, but complexity of solutions and cost of execution are hindering progress

Nine in 10 European industrial SME leaders agree that decarbonisation is vital in addressing the climate emergency and are working hard to accelerate the transition to low-carbon operations.

This is according to a report released by OpinionWay, commissioned by energy and engineering firm Equans, which questioned over 1,300 industrial decision-makers at firms across France, the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands with less than 5,000 employees.

More than 90 per cent of respondents to the report entitled: Industrial decarbonisation in Europe - saw decarbonisation as compatible with their line of work, and 87 per cent claimed it is achievable with available technologies. The UK is leading the charge, with 94 per cent of respondents saying they have formalised their efforts through an official framework, well above the European average of 80 per cent.

Similarly, 91 per cent of respondents in the Netherlands said industrial decarbonisation is well underway, compared to 83 per cent Europe-wide.

Encouragingly, the research said that 95 per cent of all firms surveyed were actively thinking about how to decarbonise and were already making operational changes.

However, while less than half of European companies have rolled out decarbonisation measures to date, the UK led the way with 53 per cent of respondents claiming to have put plans in motion, compared to 43 per cent in Germany, 36 per cent in France, 34 per cent in Belgium and 30 per cent in the Netherlands.

Energy efficiency and resource circularity stood out as the two most widely adopted strategies across the board, with 57 per cent implementing energy-saving initiatives and 52 per cent reducing water and raw material consumption.

However, the study also revealed that political and media influences were having an impact on progress, with more than half of respondents claiming that calls to slow down the clean energy transition are hampering their progress. This was particularly true in the UK and Netherlands where collectively two-thirds of business leaders recognised the impact of negative net zero media narratives and political rhetoric.

Other most-cited barriers included the complexity of available solutions, highlighted by 32 per cent of respondents and the scale of investment required (27 per cent).

Jérôme Stubler, CEO of Equans, said: “SMEs and mid-caps are innovating across the board to reduce energy consumption and decarbonise through energy management, insulation and retrofitting of buildings, electrification of processes and fleets.

“They are fully aware of their role and have already undertaken extensive strategic thinking. They are moving forward, but they are scaling back their ambitions due to lack of clarity around regulation and electricity prices, a lack of simple solutions, and limited access to funding. Our ability to simplify and support this momentum will be key to accelerating Europe’s industrial decarbonisation.”