BT shrinks carbon footprint

BT claims to have reduced its carbon footprint by 97,000 tonnes of CO2 per year by using phone conferences and videoconferencing to cut back on staff travel for meetings.

The telco has eliminated 860,000 face-to-face meetings, according to a survey conducted by the University of Bradford and research group SustainIT.

In 2006 BT produced a global total of 640,000 tonnes of CO2. The 97,000 tonnes saved through conferencing represents a 15 per cent reduction.

A BT spokesman said: "There's a renewed focus on the carbon footprint... and conferencing can play a large part in reducing it."

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The survey covered 6,000 BT staff across all levels, departments and locations with data being extrapolated and annualised for the whole organisation.

BT's head of environment, Mike Hughes, said the increasing use of conferencing is helping BT staff to better manage their work/life balance and substantially reduce travelling - with its associated costs and environmental impact.

The report's author, professor Peter James of SustainIT, said the survey results are very positive.

The survey found the widespread use of conferencing leads to faster decision making, increased productivity and a reduction in travel costs.

It also found each conference call which replaces a face-to-face meeting saves a minimum of 40kg of travel-related CO2.

Each call also saves around £178 in travel costs and frees up £120 in management time for more productive tasks. Over the last year this equated to a £238m total saving.