What being green means for BT
British Telecom is arguably one of the most advance organizations in the world when it comes to its own sustainability initiatives. Ever since we founded Green Telecom, Live, we’ve heard on many occasions, BT’s progress on its drive to reduce its environmental impact and develop strategic towards sustainable practices.
To sum those up in half a nutshell, BT has committed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 80% by 2020 relative to 1996 levels. The operator is also investing some £250 million to build its own network of wind farms around the UK, which would eventually supply up to 25% of the company’s electricity consumption.
So what does all mean for BT? More importantly, what has BT gotten back in return for being green?
Well, according to Dominic P. Arena, regional director APAC, BT Telconsult – the consulting unit of BT, the operator has gotten back plenty, both in revenue generation and of course, in cost savings.
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In a post on the BT blog, Arena, points out that in the year 2007/2008, some £2 billion in customer contracts that BT won could be attributed in part to the operator’s differentiation on CSR, of which a key part is Green ICT. How BT won those contracts, he adds, is through its ‘ethical reputation and its Green ICT credentials,’ which include its CO2 emission reduction target, and its investment in low-carbon energy sources.
Obviously, those are only things that can be issued as part of press releases and cited in annual reports. Janet Blake, BT’s head of Global CSR revealed to Green Telecom Live when she participated in our conference in Melbourne in 2008, that the operator has gone the extra mile, not only in those basic commitments and investments, but much deeper on an organisational and business level.
For example, Blake reveals that BT now has a dedicated team that addresses all issues of CSR. Included in the responsibility of that team is helping the sales organisation respond to customer proposals that require a CSR component.
No doubt, the £2 billion pound figure is actually calculated by adding up the value of all the contracts that Blake’s team had made contributions to. Otherwise, it would be nearly impossible to quantify such as a number unless BT conducts a thorough audit of all of its customers and then asks them whether its ‘green’ credentials did indeed played a part in their decision making process.
The other benefit that Arena mentions in his post is cost savings – to the amount of over £365 million since 2002, achieved through initiatives that range from energy management through to process transformation.
Examples of this include rationalising a major enterprise serving data centre from 1,500 pieces of old equipment to 100 new servers, then raising the operating temperature by 3°C, to achieve savings of £600,000 a year in operating costs.
Having employees work at home – also yields both operational costs savings for BT – to the amount of £6,000 per employee per year, Arena said.
Obviously, these factors only scratch the surface of what being green is to BT. Other examples Arena mention include the ability to attract and retain employees, and the meet the increasingly competitive pressure to attract the environmentally conscious consumer.
The important thing is that BT is approaching the topic of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability as something that is measurable, that generates revenues, and achieves ROIs. This kind of approach is absolutely necessary for any company looking to implement a ‘green’ move. After all, being green is not just about taking the equivalent emissions from X amount of cars off the road by consolidating a data centre or two. It needs to be seen as a core business decision that is not only good for the environment, but for a company’s business as a whole.
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Category: Climate change, Featured articles, Green corporations, Green ICT, Renewables
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