Can an environmental focus deliver
bottom-line benefits?

UK: London, 8 September 2009

Leading environmental campaigner Sir Jonathon Porritt has claimed business is now way ahead of government in terms of embracing the challenge of climate change.

Speaking to business leaders at a Fujitsu Executive Discussion evening in London, Porritt highlighted how industrial giants as diverse as GE and Wal-Mart have embarked on ambitious programmes to reduce the environmental impact of their operations - outside of any regulatory framework.

"It is not because businesses have suddenly been infected with some dreadful bacterial outbreak of philanthropy," said the former chair of the UK government climate watchdog, the Sustainable Development Commission, and founder director of Forum for the Future. "That isn't how markets work. The last thing we want is companies all turning themselves into raving philanthropists. This is not the answer to the world's problems."

Rather, enterprises are adopting environmental initiatives because it makes good business sense, he pointed out. "Almost all the [environmental] initiatives companies have to undertake at the moment simultaneously serve their commercial interests," he argued. Citing the example of Wal-Mart, which in his opinion "is driving the single most effective [green] supply chain initiative in the world today", Porritt stated: "It would not be doing what it's doing if it was racking up billion dollar bills just to improve its environmental performance."

He continued: "It's an astonishing story. The necessary innovation has been let loose [by business] just in time, in my opinion, to avert something pretty grim."

However, when pointing out the immense efforts still required to avert disastrous climate change, he added a note of warning: "I suspect there are an awful lot of business leaders who still don't really understand the true nature of the de-carbonisation challenge they face, whatever sector they're in."

Waste is the enemy

At the same event, Paul Coby, CIO and head of BA Services at British Airways, agreed that environmental programmes and financial rigour can go hand-in-hand. Having outlined how BA plans to reduce its IT carbon footprint by 25% by 2011 from 2007 levels - and has almost reached that target ahead of schedule - he said: "A lot of the things I'm talking about save costs as well. Most of the things I'm talking about make your business better. Most times, the green environmental benefits cut very well with cost reduction initiatives, and also with process improvement initiatives."

Waste, he continued, is the big enemy - echoing his long-standing belief in the value of a lean approach to business processes. "Wasteful processes are terrible, wasting money is terrible and wasting the environment is terrible. I really believe there is a virtuous circle here. Once you get into that mindset, a lot of this stuff becomes a lot easier.

"You make progress by looking at anything and everything," he continued. "There is no magic thing you can do that will single-handedly reduce emissions. It's about looking at all the small stuff." For example, BA has raised the ambient temperature in its data centres by a few degrees, to 23.5 degrees centigrade. "That alone can save you a remarkable amount of energy," said Coby. Its data centre team is looking to push that to 25 degrees centigrade shortly.

The company also examined more than 100 initiatives suggested in an online "ideas exchange" amongst employees, which led to such small measures as creating a hotkey for setting PCs to hibernate. "It really is about grinding out the details," he said.

"But perhaps most importantly it needs commitment," he added, concluding: "I find, and you will find, that your people and your customers care about this as much as you do."

Focus on clean tech

Meanwhile, Catalina McGregor, founder and chair of the Green IT Delivery Unit at the UK Cabinet Office, delivered a clear message about hardware wastage. Highlighting the toxic substances used to make electronic equipment and the amount of harmful dumping in the developing world that results from the high turnover of hardware, she urged the audience to "sweat your assets."

She also highlighted the importance of adopting socially responsible policies in IT procurement, and, like the other speakers, pointed to the critical role IT will play in tackling climate change.

To download our Special Report on energy efficiency in IT, which includes contributions from Catalina McGregor and Paul Coby, log in to our Members' Area.

About Fujitsu Executive Discussion Evenings

EDEs are executive forums featuring leading industry speakers and tackling board-level issues. Over 30 EDEs ran in 2008 across the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and Spain.