“Carbon cutting” is starting to affect every area of our lives. Whether it’s buying a product in a supermarket that bears a carbon reduction label or reducing our carbon footprint in other ways, most of us now appreciate the urgency of the matter.

And yet recent research shows that Britain’s small firms are being slower to respond. Despite accounting for almost 20% of total CO2 emissions, a quarter of the country’s small firms have not yet taken any steps to make their businesses greener. Aside from the environmental damage they are causing, it is clear that a lot of SMEs aren’t aware of the commercial benefits of cutting their carbon. For example, an average office-based business wastes £6,000 per year by leaving equipment on at weekends.

There is significant money to be saved in reducing energy consumption. The Carbon Trust, a private company set up by government in response to the threat of climate change, can help you realise these savings. Over the past three years it has provided around £90m of support for SMEs to fund a range of services including interest free loans, site surveys, research grants and free energy-management events.

In this, our focus on “Reducing your carbon footprint”, you’ll find a wealth of information on how you can help accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. SMEs may be small and medium in size but they have one of the biggest roles to play in cutting carbon emissions in this country.