Charting the NetZero quest: exploring the factors affecting UK SMEs’ readiness to track supply chain emissions

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are pivotal to achieving the United Kingdom’s Net Zero objective by 2050, yet engagement with supply chain emissions measurement remains fragmented and underspecified. This study uses a critical-realist qualitative design to examine readiness as a multi-level phenomenon: 35 interviews with owner-managers pursuing Net Zero, analysed via the Gioia method. The analysis produces a decision-oriented empirical plan – process – practice conceptual understanding. It identifies five interacting domains: internal enablers, external pressures, contextual uncertainties, supply-chain coordination, and technology readiness, that jointly explain progression, stall, and reversal. Findings suggest that decarbonisation journeys are contingent rather than linear; firms advance when mobilisable resources, partner support, and fit-for-purpose digital tools align with perceived value under uncertainty. The paper presents an integrated conceptual framework tailored to smaller firms and recommends staged capability building and low-regret pilots to reduce adoption thresholds. The model offers practical guidance while clarifying theoretical mechanisms of readiness.