BT 2007 Annual Report Download - page 27

energy saving recommendations. We will also be helping and
encouraging our customers, employees and suppliers to play
their part and this includes encouraging our suppliers to develop
products that emit lower levels of carbon. And we have
launched a website to enable people to calculate their carbon
footprint – www.bt.com/climatechange
The renewal of our green energy contract until 2010 means
that approximately 50% of our electricity needs in the UK will
be met by renewable sources and 50% from combined heat and
power.
The following table shows BT’s CO
2
emissions as defined in
the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and therefore includes not only the
CO
2
emitted directly by BT, but also that emitted in the
production of the electricity purchased by us.
CO
2
emissions
2004 2005 2006 2007
Total (UK only – million tonnes) 0.94 0.76 0.64 0.64
% below 1996 42% 53% 60% 60%
Tonnes per £1m turnover 50 41 33 31
Our Chief Executive, Ben Verwaayen, chairs the CBI’s climate
change task force, which has been established to set the agenda
for business’s approach to climate change and will make wide-
ranging recommendations to the UK Government, the CBI and
businesses later in 2007.
Enabling sustainable economic growth
Enabling growth that benefits society – in both the developed
and developing worlds – within environmental limits is a new
area of focus for BT. In the 2008 financial year, we will be
integrating sustainability into our business processes such as
product and proposition development. As part of this
programme, we are also looking at the issue of obsolescence in
the ICT industry.
Enabling a more inclusive society
We believe that ICT has a role to play in creating a more
inclusive society, helping everyone get a fair chance. Work on
this part of our CSR strategy is at an early stage, but we are
looking at:
rwhat we need to do to build up our digital inclusion activities
in the UK to help even more people get online. For a number
of years, our key performance indicator for digital inclusion
related to levels of broadband penetration. As these now
stand at more than 99.9%, we have introduced a new target:
to reduce the number of digitally excluded people in the UK
from 36% to 32.4% (a reduction of 10%) in three years.
rinvolving less advantaged and minority groups in ICT-enabled
work
rwhich new markets/services give all members of society the
same freedom and opportunities to communicate
rhelping the voluntary and charity sectors to become more
effective through the application of ICT
rworking with partners and customers to release the power of
diversity within our supply chain.
We believe that an inclusive approach to product design is good
for customers and good for business. We are proud, for
example, of our reputation for developing products that can be
used by all our customers, regardless of age or ability. For
example, we offer a wide range of phones with accessible
features. Our Age and Disability Action team works to raise
awareness within BT of the importance of inclusive design in
services ranging from billing to broadband and has been working
with The Centre for Inclusive Technology and Design on the
development of a toolkit to help designers and others involved
in product development, and to produce a general guide for
inclusive design for businesses.
CSR Risks
For a number of years we have maintained a CSR risk register.
During the 2007 financial year, we continued to develop our
knowledge and understanding of our CSR risks. Our most
significant CSR risks continue to be:
rbreach of the code of business ethics
rclimate change
rdiversity
rhealth and safety
routsourcing
rprivacy
rsupply chain working conditions.
Each of these risks has an owner and a mitigation strategy in
place. These risks are not regarded as material in relation to the
group and consequently are not included in Group risk factors.
CSR opportunities
The increasing importance of sustainability issues both inside and
outside BT is leading to a much greater focus on the
opportunities that CSR provides as well as the risks that need to
be managed. This is not only in relation to building competitive
advantage by growing our brand and reputation for CSR, but
also in terms of commercial marketplace opportunities.
We believe that ICT has a positive role to play as part of the
solution as individuals and organisations look for more
sustainable ways of communicating, working and living.
We are planning to offer our business customers a carbon
audit which will measure their carbon footprint and explore ways
in which the use of ICT can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Products such as remote working and teleconferencing, for
example, play an important part in creating sustainable
businesses.
Report of the Directors Business review
26 BT Group plc Annual Report & Form 20-F