Bosses not doing enough to cut carbon emissions

Construction bosses are not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions say employees who are taking action to reduce emissions themselves, a new survey shows.

More than 70% of employees surveyed by the Carbon Trust said their boss had made no attempt to encourage them to reduce emissions with alternative travel plans and only 22% felt their workplace was doing enough to cut emissions.

In response 40% have taken personal steps to reduce their carbon emissions at work in the past 12 months.

Carbon Trust solutions director Hugh Jones said it was essential for businesses to step up and champion carbon saving initiatives in their workplaces.

“You can put in a new energy-efficient boiler, or install low-energy light bulbs, and those will make a difference, but many of the measures that will have the biggest impact and achieve the greatest savings require buy-in across a workforce,” he said.

“In the current economic climate it has never been more important for all businesses, of all sizes, to act on climate change.”

Jones suggested businesses appoint a carbon champion to encourage emission cut-backs among employees, such as switching off PCs overnight and recycling documents.