Corporate Social Responsibility

BT Conferencing Solution example

Conferencing solutions offer an alternative to travel and are therefore part of BT’s carbon busting plan to help tackle climate change.

In 2005, as a company BT saved:

• 54,000 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted into the environment by using BT Conferencing instead of travelling to meetings.
• £146 million as each avoided meeting saved BT a minimum of £431 in travel costs, accommodation fees and unproductive employee travel time.
• In 2005, BT saved approximately 32kg of CO2 emissions on each of the 1.35m journeys eliminated by using conferencing***

*** Research conducted by SustainIT and The University of Bradford May 2006

Head of Environment, BT Group, states:

'BT Conferencing services have helped deliver our targets to reduce emissions of Green House gases and are increasingly being used to reduce daily commutes and travelling for meetings.'

This clearly illustrates that being greener and operating more efficiently and cost-effectively can go hand in hand.

Why CSR is vital in today’s market?

• Government pressure to reduce CO2 emissions
• Environment issues - Global warming threat
• Pressure groups i.e. Friends of Earth ready to name and shame unethical businesses
• Increase public interest on organisations unethical

The CSR challenge

• Help the Government reduce CO2 emissions by 2010
• Think about the well-being of your employees
• Act in a sustainable manner, while recognising the interests of its stakeholders

Business benefits

• Increase sales & revenue
• Build a good reputation
• Increase shareholder value
• Reduce Risk
• Customer Attraction
• Recruitment & retention of employees
• Gain Competitive advantage