Earlier this year, David Miliband, UK MP, spoke of providing richer environmental information for citizens - from real-time energy metering and eco-labelling of products, to green energy tariffs and green pensions. 

But is being green profitable? The short answer is ‘yes'. Companies committed to being green believe it is an essential part of building long-term business value. 

Savings and growth 

For example, IBM saved $17.8 million in one year by asking staff to turn off equipment and lights not in use, while BP saved $650 million over four years by reducing factory CO2 emissions. 

Even the taken-for-granted aspects of computing have savings potential. Barclays canned its corporate screen saver on company computer monitors, and scooped £1m in energy savings. New computer systems, such as ‘follow me' printers that reroute and manage print jobs, also make best use of resources and reduce waste.

Being green is known to deliver direct financial benefits by reducing operating costs and improving resource efficiency. But there is more to ‘green' than savings. It can deliver growth where company efforts attract positive media attention to earn stakeholder respect that builds a winning brand.

What the customer wants

Greener companies are more likely to win public and private sector tendering contracts too. Ricoh UK's environmental manager said: "We used to see maybe one question in 100 tenders about whether we have an environmental policy. Now we perhaps see 99."

In computing, Dell is putting on the green pressure to maintain a competitive advantage by differentiating its offerings - they're ‘greener' than competitors. Last month Dell said it plans to become the "greenest technology company on Earth" and set the industry's environmental standard.

Financial Times columnist, John Gapper says companies are no longer choosing between maximising shareholder value and being socially responsible, but are maximising environmental credentials to attract new customers. He says: "The market is voting on whether to do something about global warming."

Increasingly, ethical funds are attracting environmentally conscious investors. Responding to "unprecedented interest" in green issues, UK's Marks & Spencer has launched an ethical fund (M&S Money). M&S is in good company - HSBC and ABN Amro have also launched ethical funds.

Make an environmental difference through your business - get moving now as it's more cost effective to move at your own pace and not wait until legislation forces change.

"What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" Henry David Thoreau