BT is to launch carbon clubs to help staff get involved with reducing carbon emissions.
Next week’s official launch of the clubs, which were formed from like-minded employees as a result of feedback from staff focus groups, will coincide with Environment Week and will give employees the opportunity to help reduce their own and BT’s carbon footprint.
Donna Young, head of climate change at BT, said: “We are engaging employees in a number of different ways, [the] most significant is through the carbon clubs.”
The company has also set up a taskforce, which will be run and chaired by an overall climate change champion who is supported by senior directors across the company also acting as champions. Senior management volunteers are taking up the role of carbon busters. This network will then support the employee carbon clubs.
The clubs will be given support by the champions to follow through ideas such as reducing the footprint of a particular building by, for example, making sure people turn off monitors at night and recycle waste.
A website dedicated to BT’s efforts in combating climate change has been set up and is accessible to both the public and employees. This also contains a section specifically for the carbon clubs. Each club will elect a captain and will then develop its own web page which will include information such as, club name; member list; club objectives; line of business and location, creating an informal network.
BT’s carbon cutting strategy will take three main approaches, reducing the amount that the company is emitting; helping customers and suppliers reduce their footprint, and through employee and community engagement.
By 2012, it plans to have 20% of the global workforce (20,000) actively involved in reducing their carbon footprint.