Firms failing to reduce business travel

Conferencing solutions firm Interwise said that despite the fact that workers were willing to adopt more environmentally-friendly remote working practices, employers were failing to put the necessary arrangements in place.

Interwise claimed that reducing business travel was not only a way for businesses to lessen their environmental footprint, but also a way of trimming costs. However, it found that there was "no clear owner" within most organisations to drive such initiatives forward.

As many as 70% of employees said they travelled to up to three meetings per week even though they believed that at least half of these could be held virtually.

Interwise claimed that mid-sized to larger businesses in Britain should be incorporating initiatives to reduce business travel into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

"Ownership of green initiatives within CSR and similar programmes is proving a key differentiator and driver amongst enterprises looking to unlock the benefits of remote working," said Interwise vice president Tony Gasson.

"Executive committees are needed to provide strategic direction and drive efficiencies through organisation-wide programmes such as travel reduction."

He added that while there would always be a need for business travel - for relationship building, introductions or major negotiations - both executives and employees needed to learn when it was appropriate to travel and when a "greener practice" was possible.

Doing your bit?

Meanwhile, following last weekend's 'Live Earth' event, union leaders have claimed that more than half of UK employers are not doing their bit to save energy in the workplace.

According to an online survey carried out by the TUC, fewer than half of workers (45%) said they worked for an employer with an environmental policy.

Employers in London were rated the least likely to have a green policy (42%) followed by Scottish employers (43%) and bosses in the south east and east (43.6%). Employers in the south west were rated the greenest, scoring just over 50%.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber claimed the survey highlighted the importance of taking climate change and 'greening' the workplace seriously.

"It's not difficult for employers to encourage staff to do their bit, even small steps - like turning off lights and computers when they go home, or recycling paper or printing double-sided - can make a huge difference when everyone gets involved," he said.

"Employers must also do more to ensure their staff are made aware of green policies like recycling, power saving options and travel schemes, and that staff have a say in improving these policies and practices, preferably through trade union green reps."