New research from BT Global Services has uncovered a significant mis-match between the importance placed by financial institutions on sustainability and their planning efforts in order to achieve sustainability.
76% of financial institutions surveyed believe they are using technology effectively to improve sustainability, only half of them (51%) have a proper plan in place to utilise technology to help their organisation operate in a more sustainable way. However 47.6% of financial institutions are prepared to make some investment in order to improve their sustainability record over the coming year.
“To progress faster, financial institutions need to plan to invest time and money to change they way that they work. For those that genuinely treat this issue seriously, there are significant benefits to be had in terms of reputation, marketability and ultimately cost savings.” says Andy Nicholson, managing director, UK Finance Industry Sector, BT Global Services.
“It’s interesting that whilst businesses are starting to recognise the benefits of adopting more sustainable working practices, they also point to significant challenges. Clearly sustainable business is no longer just a nice-to-have option, and it is being recognised that in order to satisfy the demands of consumers, organisations have to take this issue seriously,” adds Neil Hendry, director of consulting, Datamonitor.
31% of the financial institutions surveyed said the biggest challenge that they face regarding sustainability is keeping up with growing customer demands for products and services that demonstrate sustainability. This is followed in importance by reducing their energy usage (29%); ensuring that their suppliers operate in a sustainable manner (8%); and limiting any negative social impact (6%).
In 2007, BT launched a carbon impact assessment capability which enables organisations to calculate accurately the amount of CO2 emissions that they produce as a result of their use of networked IT services. It also provides a set of workable solutions to help customers reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint.