Willingness to be more sustainable on the rise

摘要

Half of all Australian small and me-dium enterprises (SMEs) are willing to take action to become more sustainable even if it has a negative impact on their financial performance in the short term, according to a recent survey conducted by AFS, a specialist market research company, and Net Balance, the sustainability advisory and assurance firm I work for. This equates to 153,000 SMEs willing to take action.rnThe survey also found that more than 50,000 SMEs are currently pursuing a sustainability initiative. When asked to quantify the costs and benefits of those initiatives, 46% said it would be at a cost, 31% expected to achieve an increase in sales, and 37% forecast an increase in overall margins. AFS executive chairman Drew Le Grand said: "A quarter of SMEs believe that sustainability is a selling proposition for them, a tangible opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors."