Is green the new black?

Enigma Group Roundtable

Green is now firmly in the mainstream with companies of all sizes promoting their dedication to the green cause and for good reason: in a world of rising energy costs, companies can compete better by reducing their carbon footprint.

There are significant cost savings to be gained from cutting energy consumption, but this is not the only reason for aligning your business with the green agenda.

Is being green a better way to do business or just another way of driving profit? This was the subject of DAV Management's recent business Enigma Group Roundtable, 'Is Green the New Black?'

The Roundtable, led by DAV managing director Charlie Mayes and chairman Andy Roberts featured representatives from Enigma sponsoring partners, DAV customers and a government IT specialist working closely with the Government's CIO Council.

The consensus suggests that organisations today are clearly still struggling with how to deal with the green agenda. While the primary driver for taking on green initiatives is still firmly based on economics, the green agenda does have a wider resonance, particularly in FTSE 100 companies, and plays an important role in how a company communicates with its stakeholders.

Many of the larger companies are making great strides in the green IT space, particularly with regard to datacentre consolidation and many are looking at the benefits of grid computing and outsourcing alternatives, including Cloud Computing, to help them run their businesses more efficiently.

However, it's clear that many organisations are still interested solely in the bottom line and may be branding cost savings and efficiency gains as green initiatives. The hype around 'green' is palpable with organisations of all sizes promoting sustainable initiatives loudly and proudly, so much so that it has become difficult to tell between those that say they are green i.e. 'greenwashed' - and those that are truly green.

The younger generation, who will go on to inherit the environmental challenges of today, will be an increasingly significant driver for change. This next generation of workers on the whole genuinely cares about green issues and will want to know what companies are doing in terms of corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

If economic value is driving the green agenda within many organisations, the question is, does this really matter? Efficiencies made under the green banner still benefit the company and the environment. The problem lies when efficiency is dressed up as a green initiative which can devalue emotional capital with shareholders, customers and employees who may question the authenticity of an organisation's actions.

It's a fine line to tread, but if we can get to the point where we can look to combine the 'green' economic value with the passion of the younger generation, then the green agenda is back on again for the future.

To read the complete 'Is Green the New Black?' Roundtable write-up, please click on the adjacent link.