3 in 4 SMEs have yet to go green due to financial and time constraints, lack of expertise: study
Key recommendations include ramping up sustainability-focused initiatives and developing a ‘sustainability passport’ for SMEs to track their progress
[SINGAPORE] Three in four small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have not embarked on sustainability efforts, with insufficient funding, skills and time identified as top barriers, a new study has found.
Led by sustainability startup Gprnt and PwC Singapore, the 2025 SME Sustainability Barometer engaged more than 560 SMEs across 19 industries through surveys, interviews and roundtables with trade associations.
The study is supported by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Sustainability Alliance. It was launched on Wednesday (Nov 12) at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025.
Top challenges
The top challenge cited by SMEs yet to embark on sustainability efforts was a lack of funding, with 52 per cent finding it difficult to justify its need due to tight operating margins and more pressing business needs.
About four in five of those polled indicated a lack of clarity on tangible returns from investments.
The next biggest challenge was a lack of technical know-how, with 46 per cent of SMEs saying they did not have the skills to translate sustainability into concrete action plans and demonstrable outcomes.
The third challenge – cited by more than 40 per cent of SMEs – was limited availability of time and resources, compounded by rising economic pressures due to geopolitical tensions.
More than 70 per cent of SMEs said they have not accessed any form of government assistance or available support, the study also found.
Key recommendations
Based on these findings, Gprnt, PwC, SBF and Sustainability Alliance have come up with five sets of key recommendations.
First, they proposed the creation of a publicly accessible central repository with success stories of SMEs that have benefited from embarking on sustainability efforts. This will inspire more SMEs to start their sustainability journeys.
Second, they recommended that SMEs appoint an employee to take charge of their organisation’s sustainability efforts. This staff member can be guided by a “simple and standardised” first-year templated road map, which Gprnt and PwC plan to introduce.
Third, there is a need to ramp up the number of sustainability-focused initiatives – such as “Queen Bee” programmes – that SMEs can participate in. These programmes involve large corporations engaging SME suppliers and customers to build green capabilities.
Fourth, they proposed the development of a “sustainability passport” with certifications and badges. This will help SMEs track their progress and guide them on progression pathways, from basic schemes to more advanced qualifications.
Lastly, they suggested trade associations engage their SME constituents to identify shared challenges and work with government agencies to co-create sector-wide solutions. Such shared solutions can help SMEs keep costs trim and promote economies of scale.
Meanwhile, SMEs can access readily available resources through QR codes on the study, which can be downloaded online.
Taking these recommendations into account, Gprnt, SBF and Sustainability Alliance will next engage public and private-sector partners to assess the feasibility of implementing these initiatives, with lower-hanging fruits to be prioritised in 2026.
Gprnt chief executive Lionel Wong told The Business Times that these discussions already started some months back, though it “remains to be seen” exactly when these initiatives will take off, and in what form.
“We need to create structural fixes and incentives and for that, the collective ecosystem has to come together,” he said.
Ravi Menon, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action, noted that environmental sustainability will become an “increasingly important driver of competitiveness and new growth” in the face of rapid climate change.
“We must enable SMEs to view sustainability not as a cost to bear, but as a business strategy for securing their place in the carbon-constrained economy of the future,” he said.
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