Three in four Singapore SMEs have yet to start their sustainability journeys, prompting calls for stronger public-private support in a new Gprnt and PwC Singapore study.

The inaugural SME Sustainability Barometer, supported by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and Sustainability Alliance (SA), surveyed more than 560 SMEs across 19 sectors.

It found that most small businesses remain at the early stages of sustainability adoption due to constraints in money, skills and time.

SMEs Struggling to Justify the Cost of Going Green

More than half of respondents said sustainability was difficult to justify amid tight margins and competing priorities, while four in five were unsure of the tangible returns from green investments.

Three in four SMEs lacked the technical know-how to implement sustainability plans, and over 40% said they could not spare the resources to pursue available programmes.

Despite Singapore’s extensive range of grants and training schemes, 73% of SMEs had not accessed any government or industry support.

The report points to a gap in awareness and relevance, calling for stronger coordination between the public and private sectors to make sustainability more practical and accessible.

The Barometer found a clear link between sustainability maturity and business gains.

SMEs further along in their sustainability journeys reported measurable benefits such as higher customer engagement, cost savings from energy efficiency and access to new markets.

Only 10% of SMEs in the early stages saw measurable gains, compared to nearly half of those at more advanced stages, showing that sustained efforts deliver tangible results over time.

Coordinated Frameworks, Incentives Could Help SMEs Go Green

To accelerate adoption, the report outlines five key actions.

It recommends that policymakers and industry partners help SMEs understand the return on investment of sustainability and provide a simple one-year roadmap with achievable milestones.

It also calls for the expansion of “Queen Bee” programmes where larger corporates mentor SME suppliers, the development of shared service models to lower costs and a unified sustainability “passport” to help SMEs track progress and gain recognition in procurement and financing.

The report notes that 86% of SMEs involved in existing Queen Bee programmes reported business benefits, highlighting the value of scaling these initiatives.

The findings show that 58% of SMEs struggle with high initial investment costs, 46% face expensive sustainable materials and most operate without a dedicated sustainability budget.

In fact, 82% of SMEs have not allocated any funding to sustainability initiatives.

The report suggests that trade associations can play a central role in pooling resources, negotiating bulk solutions and supporting sector-wide initiatives to improve cost efficiency.

The SME Sustainability Barometer concludes that while SMEs remain at the start of their sustainability journeys, coordinated ecosystem action supported by clearer guidance, market incentives and data transparency can turn sustainability into a driver of long-term growth and competitiveness.

“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. Environmental sustainability will become an increasingly important driver of competitiveness and new growth, as climate change intensifies in the years and decades ahead.

Supply chains and customers have begun to prioritise companies that demonstrate credible climate action and will increasingly do so. Going green is not about compliance – it is about staying relevant and resilient.”

said Ravi Menon, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action.

“Gprnt’s digital utilities play a catalytic role in helping businesses to automatically generate their basic sustainability metrics at no cost, which greatly lowers the barrier for local SMEs to get started.

But to truly bring SMEs into the fold, we need to go further by layering clearer market signals and real incentives atop these foundations, in the form of green procurement, financing, and market access opportunities. This requires collective effort across the public and private sectors to make sustainability not just viable, but valuable.”

said Lionel Wong, Gprnt’s Chief Executive Officer.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by sodawhiskey via Freepik