Press releases

Accusations of apathy and self-interest are frequently levelled at young people in the UK.  However, research launched by the CMI today reveals that, in terms of embracing the green agenda, those at director and senior management-level risk squandering the enthusiasm of junior and young managers to take action on green issues. 

The CMI’s ‘Lean and Green’ report shows a striking disparity between senior and junior staff members at UK organisations in terms of their passion for, and willingness to take action to combat climate change in the workplace.  While 81% of managers recognise energy usage is a key business issue, just 26% report that their organisation actively addresses its carbon footprint. 

The CMI’s chief executive, Ruth Spellman, explains: “Making green management ‘business as usual’ is a key challenge facing the profession today.  It’s frustrating that the majority of managers recognise this but are being held back, either because of a lack of leadership commitment, complicated regulations, or inadequate resources.  We hope the recommendations in this report will give managers the tools they need stop paying lip-service to green issues and start taking action.”

This inertia seems to stem from the very top; more than half of all directors are identified as ‘climate change cynics’.  In contrast senior management commitment is recognised by 82% of managers as the most important driver of environmental practices, followed by cost savings and regulatory compliance.  While an encouraging 73% of managers say they would be turned off by an employer with a poor environmental record, fewer than half are proud of the environmental record of their current employer, further bolstering the argument that good intentions do not translate into actions.  This also means businesses not addressing their environmental impact risk losing out on the most talented recruits. 

To encourage managers at all levels to play their part in transforming the UK economy for a low-carbon future, the CMI is calling for all UK organisations to have a green team, led from the top, in place and active by 5 June 2010 – World Environment Day.  These teams will be responsible for harnessing the enthusiasm of the younger generation and using it to engender a carbon-conscious culture across their workplaces.  Other recommendations include assigning green performance targets to individual employees as well as to the organisation as a whole, adopting meaningful measures of environmental performance and providing sufficient resources to help realise potential business benefits.     

Recycling, which 85% of organisations have introduced, remains the most popular green initiative, but just half have introduced energy-efficient light bulbs and fewer still have tried to reduce the energy consumption of IT equipment.  This suggests that in the current economic climate, businesses could be missing out on important cost benefits by not signing up to the green management movement. 

Anna Pretious, Environmental and Energy Conservation Manager (North Wales Police) on behalf of ACPO Cymru, said: “We would like to see people thinking innovatively – beyond recycling – to look at how things like improved vehicle fuel-efficiency, consideration of “whole life cycle analysis” in purchasing decisions, making better use of energy-efficient IT and designing low carbon buildings could help improve both their environmental performance and their bottom line.”      

Eva Eisenschimmel, EDF Energy’s Chief Officer, People, Organisation and Brand Performance, said: “We welcome this research by the Chartered Management Institute and the insight it gives into this serious issue.  Every business leader needs to consider how their company will thrive in a low carbon economy. For many, this will involve a transformation of the business model – something that EDF Energy made a long term commitment to and on which we are making strong progress.. This has to be led from the top but turned into a reality for all employees. Long-term performance measures linked with reward schemes is a powerful mechanism for making this happen.”

Chris Earnshaw, President at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) said: “As trusted sources of information on the latest issues, member organisations – such as the IET and the CMI – have a key role to play in facilitating change.  The ‘Lean and Green’ report suggests organisations are overlooking the benefits of becoming low carbon in terms of winning new business, retaining talented employees and attracting new customers.  Engineers should be at the forefront of organisational decision-making when it comes to sustainability – managers should call on their expertise when developing green policies.”   

The ‘Lean and Green’ research, which involved a UK-wide survey of 1,500 managers and detailed case studies, was conducted by the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey and the CMI, in partnership with the IET and the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and supported by EDF Energy and the Association of Chief Police Officers Cymru.

The executive summary and full report are free to download at www.managers.org.uk/gogreen.

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Further information and interview requests:
Katie Peden, Kindred Agency
Tel: 020 7612 8835; outside office hours: 0786 750 5575
Email: katie.peden@kindredagency.com

Mike Petrook / Jo Bowles, Institute Press Office
Tel: 020 7497 0496; outside office hours: 07931 302 877
Email:press.office@managers.org.uk
Website: www.managers.org.uk 

NOTES TO EDITORS
• The Chartered Management Institute is the only chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards of management and leadership excellence.   The Institute is the guardian of the National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership and sets the standards that others follow.  As a membership organisation, the Institute has been providing forward-thinking advice and support to individuals and businesses, for more than 50 years, and continues to give managers and leaders, and the organisations they work in, the tools they need to improve their performance and make an impact. As well as equipping individuals with the skills, knowledge and experience to be excellent managers and leaders, the Institute’s products and services support the development of management and leadership excellence across both public and private sector organisations.  Through in-depth research and policy surveys of its 81,000 individual and 450 corporate members, the Institute maintains its position as the premier authority on key management and leadership issues.

• ‘Lean and Green’ involved a UK-wide survey of 1,500 managers and detailed case studies.  The research was conducted by the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey and the CMI, in partnership with the IET and the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and supported by EDF Energy and the Association of Chief Police Officers Cymru

• The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a world-leading professional organisation, sharing and advancing knowledge to promote science, engineering and technology across the world. The IET dates from 1871 and has more than 150,000 members in 127 countries with offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.  For more information visit www.theiet.org

• The Centre for Environmental Strategy is an internationally-known centre of excellence that takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of sustainable systems, integrating strong, engineering-based approaches with insights from the social sciences to develop action-oriented, policy relevant responses to long-term environmental and social issues.  For further information visit www.ces-surrey.org.uk

• The combination of EDF Energy and British Energy forms one of the UK’s largest energy companies. The combined business is the UK’s largest producer of electricity. With a current installed capacity of around 16.5GW, we produce almost a quarter of the nation's electricity from our nuclear, coal and gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and wind farms.  We provide power to a quarter of the UK’s population via our electricity distribution networks in London, the South East and the East of England and supply gas and electricity to more than 5.5 million business and residential customers. Through Our Climate and Social Commitments we have launched the biggest environmental and social packages of any UK energy company. The company is also a key player in national infrastructure projects including management of private electricity networks serving four London airports and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the country’s first major new railway in 100 years.  EDF Energy and British Energy together employ nearly 20,000 people at locations across the UK. The combined companies are part of EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest power companies. EDF is the official energy utilities partner and sustainability partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.