In the current context, the involvement of companies in terms of sustainability is increasingly important. Nevertheless, 46% of Spanish SMEs recognize that does not have a sustainability strategyas detailed by Hiscox, an international insurance company specializing in companies, in its I Hiscox Report on SMEs and the self-employed in Spain.
This lack of foresight in terms of sustainability is also explained by the fact that only 15.7% of the small and medium-sized companies surveyed consider climate change to be a systemic risk that will seriously affect them.
Only 31.3% of SMEs carry out sustainable practices
Not only is it that few companies design an action strategy in terms of sustainability, but also there are not many that carry out sustainable practices in their day to day. Specifically, only 31.3% of SMEs carry out sustainable practices and another 18% say they will do so in the future, which leaves a 50% of the business fabric of the SMEs that have neither incorporated nor plan to do so of this type of practice.
Among those that do carry out sustainable practices, the environment is emerging as the area in which companies act the most and 70% carry out some measure aimed at positively impacting its care. Another 41.5% work in the area of society and 31.9% in that of governance.
64% of SMEs that carry out sustainable practices do not communicate them
When listing the benefits of adopting sustainable practices and policies, business ethics ranks first (40%), followed by reputation improvement (27.21%) and increased customer satisfaction (25.7%). Despite recognizing the importance of sustainability in the corporate image, 64% of SMEs that carry out sustainable practices do not communicate them.
Additionally, 76.5% of companies do not have indicators to measure the success of their practices, so they do not have the real capacity to measure which ones work, which ones do not, which ones need to be reinforced, etc.
“In the current context, assuming sustainability as a pillar of business strategies is essential for companies, regardless of their size. It is evident that there is still a long way to go in light of these data, and that is that small and medium-sized companies are currently focused on facing the multiple current economic challenges. However, they should not neglect their actions in terms of sustainability, which can also have an impact on improving the business in the long term”explains Carolina Morato, director of marketing and communication at Hiscox Iberia.
