February 11, 2009—As companies around the world prepare for a carbon-constrained economy, business leaders are increasingly employing Green IT (information technology) strategies in efforts to reduce energy use, cut carbon emissions, and mitigate exposure to risks associated with energy price volatility, pending regulatory demands, and increased transparency and reporting requirements driven by shareholder activism.
A new study by Deloitte and CFO Research Services highlights the current and emerging interdependencies between IT and enterprise sustainability performance. The study, titled “The Next Wave of Green IT,” surveyed 353 senior finance, IT, and business unit executives at companies with revenues of $500 million to more than $10 billion throughout Europe, North America, and China to explore how large companies around the world view IT’s role in the future of enterprise sustainability. Participants include Dell, HSBC, IBM, Intel and Wells Fargo.
When asked if their companies have complete, accurate, and timely information on IT’s impact on the environment, 40 percent of IT respondents, 43 percent of business unit respondents, and 60 percent of finance respondents reported in the negative.
Additional findings from the study include:
- More than nine out of 10 companies have made at least incremental, if not aggressive, efforts to reduce their impact on the environment.
- Nearly three in five respondents say their company has at least 5 percent of their IT budget set aside for Green IT projects and more than one-third of companies say they’ve allocated 15 percent or more to Green IT.
- Thirty-two percent of respondents have a formal Green IT program in place, while 34 percent are planning to launch a Green IT program within a year.
- Forty percent of respondents have not established a baseline for IT’s environmental performance.
- Two-thirds of respondents say their company has a formal program in place for measuring, monitoring, and improving its environmental performance.
- Three-quarters of respondents say a formal review of business impact on the environment has been conducted in the last two years. </ul
