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Finance chiefs ‘concerned’ about environment
11/07/08
The findings
of a survey by document management software company, Version One has
revealed that 94% of senior finance professionals remain concerned
about the negative impact their company is having on the environment
with 45% of these stating that they are VERY concerned.
Version One
carried out the research with 125 senior finance professionals
(finance directors and managers) across a range of UK public and
private sector organisations.
Version One’s survey reveals that just 3% of respondents are NOT
concerned about their organisations’ environmental impact. One of
these respondents, a financial director from a large construction
company, admitted “We have more important priorities than the
environment”. The remaining 3% of survey respondents stated that
they didn’t know whether to be concerned about their companies’
environmental impact or not.
Despite the high level of environmental concern amongst finance
professionals, only 49% believe their organisations are sufficiently
environmental friendly with just 19% of these believing that their
organisations are VERY environmentally friendly. 50% conceded that
their companies were NOT adequately environmentally-friendly with
the remaining 2 respondents (1%) admitting that they were unsure
about their companies’ environmental credentials.
Lynne Munns, General Manager of Version One, says, “This research
highlights that despite the constant media spotlight on green issues
having the potential to desensitise finance professionals, they
remain concerned about environmental issues and in particular their
organisations’ impact on the environment. Clearly, those surveyed
recognise the financial benefits of going green and perhaps more
importantly the potential financial penalties of ignoring this
all-important issue.”
87% of those surveyed stated that they have an interest in
implementing document management technology in some part due to its
environmental benefits, which Munns is not surprised by, “Electronic
document management makes smart business sense whilst
also reducing both paper consumption and CO2 emissions.
Organisations using document management are considerably cutting
costs whilst improving both cash flow and business efficiency.”
Most of the 125 respondents believe more needs to be done to
persuade UK companies to reduce their negative impact on the
environment, however there are mixed ideas about the type of
measures required. Interestingly, 27% of those surveyed favour a
‘green education’ programme over financial incentives (24%). 15%
suggest legislation combined with financial incentives and a green
education programme would encourage businesses to become more
eco-friendly with 13% suggesting that financial incentives combined
with a green education programme is the answer. Just 8% feel that
legislation alone is the best option with 5% suggesting businesses
will be persuaded by legislation combined with a green education
programme. The remaining respondents recommended legislation with
financial initiatives or did not know how to make business more
environmentally-friendly. A couple suggested alternative measures
with one respondent stating that the government should introduce
penalties for non-green conformance. Another suggested that every
company needs to have an individual policy, specific to the nature
of its business
Munns adds, “There appears to be no single, magic solution to
tackling environmental issues but all modern companies are
contributing to the world’s carbon emissions in some form or other
and so need to take responsibility for their own actions. If they do
not voluntarily take action, it will be left to the Government to
force businesses into submission.”
www.versionone.co.uk
Nick Gibson, editor
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