Environmental Sustainability and Digitalisation in SMEs – Status quo Vadis? On the way to a sustainable society and economy, digitalisation is one of the most important means. But are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leveraging the synergies between a digital and sustainable transformation and what kind of incentives do they need to do so? Our latest study with the Öko-Institut outlines recommendations for policy approaches that would promote a twin sustainable-digital transformation. The need for a sustainable and digital transformation is rising on the political agenda both nationally and on a European level. Policymakers face the challenge that digitalisation is ecologically ambivalent, especially its indirect effects. Reliable empirical data and standardised measurement of its environmental foot- and handprint is still lacking in many application scenarios. At the same time, many companies are enhancing their aspirations to become more digital and more sustainable at the same time. The study addresses important questions, such as: How environmentally-sustainable are digitalisation processes in SMEs? How are policy instruments used to date and how should they be used in the future to promote a synergetic sustainable-digital development? Which role could the intensified cooperation between green economy start-ups and traditional SMEs play? Which methods and standards are used or could be used by SMEs to measure the environmental sustainability (of their digitalisation activities) in an objective and verifiable manner, communicate it externally – and what is the role of digitalisation in this? “Digitalisation in general and its use as a tool to improve the environmental performance is quite a challenge and seemingly not yet a priority for SMEs. Whether and to what extent digital solutions are used to improve the environmental performance of an SME depends on the importance that is attached to environmental objectives and its effect on the economic bottom line”, says CSCP’s Arne von Hofe. With regard to political incentive systems, Cara-Sophie Scherf from Öko-Institut notes a need for action: “Despite a growing number of strategies and (legislative) initiatives that touch upon the topic of sustainable digitalisation, there are so far only a few specific instruments in which the topics of digitalisation and sustainability are (consistently) brought together.” For additional details, you can download the complete study “Incentive Systems for an Ecologically Sustainable Digitalisation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises”. For further questions, please contact Arne von Hofe.