While some groups have voiced concerns that rising costs may dampen investment in sustainability in the short-term, one recent YouGov survey found the majority of consumers who previously prioritised sustainable products and services are still doing so.
In a separate poll commissioned by recipe box service Gousto, six in ten consumers said they would prefer businesses to offer more sustainable options at the current time.
Small businesses have a particularly big opportunity to differentiate themselves by being responsive to ongoing sustainability demands, research suggests.
A new UK study of one thousand small business owners by Novuna Business Finance has revealed that the closer the connection smaller enterprises have with their customers and staff, the better positioned they are to respond to climate change and sustainability issues.
Nine in ten of the business owners questioned said they were actively working towards net zero, with pressure from customers focusing on:
Meanwhile, pressure from staff focuses more on in-house issues such as adopting car sharing (16 per cent), reducing business travel (15 per cent), repurposing items rather than throwing them away (13 per cent) and recycling (11 per cent).
Jo Morris, head of insight at Novuna Business Finance, commented:
The UK small business community is an incredibly resilient bunch. We all still have a long way to go on the journey to net zero, but it is becoming apparent that there is much to learn from the UK small business community who have already started creating ripples that will continue to drive change.