Employees expecting small businesses to increase green efforts

Date: 18th May 2009

Growing numbers of employees are becoming aware of green issues and are keen to address them in the workplace, small businesses have been advised.

According to the latest Green List compiled by the Sunday Times, around three in four of the employees polled expressed an interest in environmental issues, with a majority believing that their employers should lead the way in working to reduce emissions of harmful gases.

At the same time, the study also found that both small businesses and larger organisations are starting to address such issues, with the number of firms issuing advice on green matters and encouraging workers to share cars or use public transport having increased markedly over the past 12 months.

Welcoming the findings, the newspaper's managing editor Richard Caseby said: "We might have expected staff interest with green initiatives to decline as they and their bosses coped with economic distractions. The reverse appears to be true."

At the end of last month, however, a study carried out by npower found that eight in ten UK businesses feel the current official carbon reduction targets are unrealistic, particularly given the current economic climate.