Business interest in environmentalism – something almost unimaginable in the not so-distant past – is growing. But translating that interest into a proportionate action plan for the business has been made that much harder by the hype and hullabaloo that surrounds the subject. Stephen Young, an analyst at research group Ovum, says a sense of perspective is urgently needed.

There has been an unseemly rush for some companies to promote a corporate-social responsibility (CSR) agenda that amounts to little more than marketing fluff. Yet simultaneously, many businesses are introducing substantive and important initiatives that go unnoticed, says Young.

There is tremendous potential for IT and for CIOs to take a lead on CSR within the business, says Young, in areas such as telecommunications. Companies such as Credit Suisse have seized the initiative in promoting the use of video conferencing, thereby reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses associated with air travel. At Credit Suisse, employees are expected to demonstrate that meetings cannot be conducted using video conferencing before they are allowed to book plane tickets.

Such simple policies can have far-reaching results when put into perspective. According to Ovum, a 2,000-mile plane trip will emit 1 tonne of carbon dioxide; a return trip from London to San Francisco is 11,000 miles.

And yet while technology can potentially help tackle climate issues, it has become increasingly obvious that IT has become an unwitting villain in the whole environmental debate. According to some estimates, IT now consumes 1% of all electricity used globally. “We hear a lot about climate change these days and we hear a lot about ICT. What we don’t hear very much about is climate change and ICT together,” he says.

Meanwhile, today’s data centres are being packed with power-hungry servers. Even for businesses where hard-headed economics outrank social concerns, improving energy-efficiency can deliver bottom-line savings, says Young.

However, despite relatively high fuel – and thus energy – prices, many CIOs have been able to ignore the issue of energy efficiency, he adds: “The bills don’t land on their desk, so it’s not on their radar.”

But instead of managers looking for grand green schemes to promote within their business, some of the most effective steps to help become energy efficient can be taken quite easily. One of the easiest and simplest ways to improve energy efficiency is to “make sure things get turned off,” says Young.