Abstract
Background and Context
UK Government have set their emissions reduction target to 81% by 2035 and reaffirmed their wider net zero pledge by 2050 (Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, 2024). British Business Bank (2021) estimates that UK SMEs account for 43 to 53% of all business greenhouse gas emissions. These ambitious goals necessitate accelerated decarbonisation across all sectors and the active establishing of the respective both urgent and effective support mechanism for SMEs. London being a global city with ambitious goals to accelerate green economy and achieve net zero by 2030, has been selected for this study.
Aim
1. What activities are undertaken by London-based business support providers to deliver and measure green finance and sustainability services for SMEs?
2. How do SMEs perceive and engage with the green finance and non-financial support ecosystem, and to what extent does this enable meaningful green transition?
Methodology and Key Findings
Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews with policymakers, intermediaries, and London-based green SME support recipients, we adopt an abductive case study approach that combines an ecosystem governance lens with a Context–Intervention - Mechanism–Outcome (CIMO) framework. Adopting this approach offers a transferable tool for diagnosing and designing effective policy delivery mechanisms for SMEs in other polycentric governance settings. We conceptualise orchestration capacity as a bundle of relational, integrating, and political practices through which councils and intermediaries configure support services. Adopting this approach offers a transferable tool for diagnosing and designing effective policy delivery mechanisms for SMEs in other polycentric governance settings. We conceptualise orchestration capacity as a bundle of relational, integrating, and political practices through which councils and intermediaries configure support services. Our findings reveal that while relational practices such as convening and signposting are well developed, integrating practices that link diagnostics, finance, and market access remain weak, and political practices are constrained by short-term funding cycles. Crucially, we show that the effectiveness of orchestration depends on structural and contextual frictions—such as landlord–tenant incentives, finance gaps, skills shortages, and bureaucratic burdens—that moderate SMEs’ perception of support credibility and their capability to act.
Recommendations
Drawing on our empirical insights, we suggest that transformational change will require strategic and systematic changes, including, but not limited to:
• More coherent, London-wide coordination of support services and funding schemes.
• Simplified and inclusive access to green finance and advisory services.
• Shared green infrastructure across boroughs to overcome landlord-tenant constraints.
• Integration of long-term environmental impact metrics into programme design.
• Enhanced training and capacity-building for low-carbon innovation and retrofit skills.
UK Government have set their emissions reduction target to 81% by 2035 and reaffirmed their wider net zero pledge by 2050 (Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, 2024). British Business Bank (2021) estimates that UK SMEs account for 43 to 53% of all business greenhouse gas emissions. These ambitious goals necessitate accelerated decarbonisation across all sectors and the active establishing of the respective both urgent and effective support mechanism for SMEs. London being a global city with ambitious goals to accelerate green economy and achieve net zero by 2030, has been selected for this study.
Aim
1. What activities are undertaken by London-based business support providers to deliver and measure green finance and sustainability services for SMEs?
2. How do SMEs perceive and engage with the green finance and non-financial support ecosystem, and to what extent does this enable meaningful green transition?
Methodology and Key Findings
Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews with policymakers, intermediaries, and London-based green SME support recipients, we adopt an abductive case study approach that combines an ecosystem governance lens with a Context–Intervention - Mechanism–Outcome (CIMO) framework. Adopting this approach offers a transferable tool for diagnosing and designing effective policy delivery mechanisms for SMEs in other polycentric governance settings. We conceptualise orchestration capacity as a bundle of relational, integrating, and political practices through which councils and intermediaries configure support services. Adopting this approach offers a transferable tool for diagnosing and designing effective policy delivery mechanisms for SMEs in other polycentric governance settings. We conceptualise orchestration capacity as a bundle of relational, integrating, and political practices through which councils and intermediaries configure support services. Our findings reveal that while relational practices such as convening and signposting are well developed, integrating practices that link diagnostics, finance, and market access remain weak, and political practices are constrained by short-term funding cycles. Crucially, we show that the effectiveness of orchestration depends on structural and contextual frictions—such as landlord–tenant incentives, finance gaps, skills shortages, and bureaucratic burdens—that moderate SMEs’ perception of support credibility and their capability to act.
Recommendations
Drawing on our empirical insights, we suggest that transformational change will require strategic and systematic changes, including, but not limited to:
• More coherent, London-wide coordination of support services and funding schemes.
• Simplified and inclusive access to green finance and advisory services.
• Shared green infrastructure across boroughs to overcome landlord-tenant constraints.
• Integration of long-term environmental impact metrics into programme design.
• Enhanced training and capacity-building for low-carbon innovation and retrofit skills.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 5 Nov 2025 |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
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