New website offers carbon calculator and advice on tackling global warming
SMALL BUSINESSES OFFERED ADVICE FROM BT ON REDUCING THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT
BT is encouraging small businesses to calculate their carbon footprint and explore ways of reducing their impact on global warming through a new website at www.btplc.com/climatechange.
BT's carbon calculator enables office-based companies to calculate their annual CO2 usage at any point in time, based on the fuel consumption at the office and the travel patterns of their staff, including flights and yearly road and rail mileage. The calculator lets businesses change their profile over time, showing how their carbon footprint changes with each action they take.
Armed with the details of their carbon footprint, companies can consider ways to reduce it, both at home and at work. The website boasts a wealth of bite-sized information, tips and web links detailing action that can be taken to make their offices more carbon friendly, how to reduce carbon emissions from travel, and smarter working practises and purchasing policies.
The simple actions that businesses can take range from encouraging flexible working and using conferencing to buying renewable energy and sourcing from local suppliers. Many have the added bonus for employees of reducing stress, improving work-life balance and increasing personal productivity.
Bill Murphy, Managing Director of BT Business, said: "SMEs can take real steps to reduce the size of their carbon footprint and collectively have global impact. They can use this as a powerful differentiator with customers who want to see businesses take leadership on this issue. If you run a small business, visit our site and see for yourself the difference you can make."
David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "Whilst businesses accept that they have a part to play in tackling the impact of climate change, it is important that the small business community has access to straightforward information and support. BT's carbon calculator is an excellent tool, and BT's advice and encouragement is a good starting point for companies looking to address their carbon footprint."
For companies that want to learn more about the subject of climate change, the site contains a handy bluffers guide, explaining the science in a nutshell, in addition to the link between CO2 and global warming and the likely consequences.
This is expanded further through inspiring and thought-provoking recommendations from some leading climate change experts. The choices range from further reading material, films and media clips to watch to photographs and interesting websites to visit. Contributors include Jonathon Porritt - Founder Director of Forum for the Future, Tom Delay – CEO of the Carbon Trust and Antony Turner – Managing Director of Carbon Sense.
The website also gives details of BT's pledges to make a significant contribution to the process of reducing carbon emissions, including detailed and honest answers to questions. The measures BT is taking include the recent extension of the world's biggest Green Energy contract, exploring the further potential of wind power, auditing the energy consumption of its data centres and engaging with suppliers and customers.
In addition, it explains how BT is harnessing the potential of both broadband in the home and networking technology in the workplace to cut down on unnecessary travel through home working and teleconferencing.
For further information
NOTES TO EDITORS
ENDS
Inquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK dial + 44 20 7356 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.bt.com/newscentre.
About BT's climate change pledges
As a consumer of 0.7% of the UK's entire electricity consumption BT is well-placed to make a significant contribution to the process of reducing carbon emissions. BT has extended its Green Energy contract until 2010. This contract will see BT saving the equivalent amount of carbon as that resulting from the electricity consumption of over 300,000 households - roughly the population of Liverpool and Cardiff combined - every year.
As part of its campaign to reduce emissions, BT has made the following pledges:
- Continue cutting carbon emissions. BT has already reduced emissions by 60 per cent between 1996 and 2006, it will now aim to extend that reduction to 80 per cent by 2016. Each year this will be the equivalent of the carbon emissions produced by 143,000 cars driving around the planet.
- Conduct a complete review of its energy supply, including exploring the further potential of wind
- Conduct a complete audit of the energy consumption of its data centres
- Influence its supply chain to produce lower carbon-emitting products
- Influence customers by proposing lower carbon solutions
- Engage with its 104,000 strong workforce to reduce their personal carbon footprints and empower them to influence their local communities
- Incorporate energy consumption and environmental factors into its procurement processes
BT is uniquely placed to harness the potential of networked IT services and the positive effect that they will continue to have on reducing carbon emissions through, for example, cutting down on unnecessary travel. More than 80 per cent of BT staff already work some or all of the time from home thanks to broadband technology, while BT's teleconferencing business is the fastest growing in the world. BT will also commit to incorporating energy consumption and environmental impact into its procurement processes, ensuring that all suppliers are compliant with BT's environmental targets.
About BT's vision and strategy for climate change
BT's vision is simply to help tackle climate change through the innovative use of communications products. BT aims to lower the carbon intensity of our networks and to help our customers reduce their footprint. Services such as telephone, web and video conferencing can give a Return on Investment of up to 25:1 for spend, versus savings seen through the reduction in associated travel and salary expenses measured over a period of 12 months.
A conservative figure of 54,000 tonnes of CO2 is being saved each year by BT using conferencing and collaboration services alone. Broadband has enabled BT to really change the way it works and now 70% of BT employees work flexibly some or all of the time.
BT's strategy is therefore about cutting carbon by:
- Reducing our own footprint
- Influencing our customers and suppliers to reduce their footprints
- Engaging with our employees to help reduce their personal footprints
In supporting the Kyoto targets BT set a target to reduce its 1996 footprint by 25% by 2010, we actually achieved a 60% reduction. BT has now pledged to reduce its footprint by 80% from the 1996 figure by 2016. This is no mean feat and will require even further improvements on energy efficiency.
To achieve this 80%, BT needs to reduce emissions in its data centres, use 100% renewable energy, reduce emissions from its fleet through more efficient driving, trialling hybrids and bio-fuels, plus reducing its travel emissions through smarter travel and through greater use of technology.
BT further pledged to implement three procurement principles in all our new contracts with suppliers:
- BT will harness the capability, diversity and innovation of our supply base to add value to our business and encourage suppliers to offer solutions which have a reduced environmental impact.
- That the energy consumption and environmental impact of a product or service (from manufacture, through usage, to disposal) is a mandatory criterion in all tender adjudication.
- That the energy consumption and environmental impact of any replacement product or service (from manufacture, through usage, to disposal) is less than its predecessor
BT is now working these principles through its supply chain. This is a tremendous challenge but one the company is determined to meet.
About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.
In the year ended 31 March 2006, BT Group plc's revenue was £19,514 million with profit before taxation of £2,040 million.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt
About the British Chambers of Commerce
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the authentic voice of British businesses. The BCC sits at the heart of a powerful nationwide network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce serving business across the UK, which employ over five million people.
