Give us a greener Budget, Chancellor told

The IT industry is calling on Chancellor Gordon Brown to address environmental issues when he announces his 2006 Budget.

Among those calling for change is Sun Microsystems, which is insisting the Budget must include tougher measures to tackle carbon dioxide emissions and power consumption, which are major contributing factors to global warming and fossil fuel depletion.

Richard Barrington, global lead environmental policy at Sun Microsystems, said the measures the government has hinted at fall well short of the mark.

If the government is serious about tackling climate change then the Chancellor must show how serious he is prepared to be in changing the UK into a low carbon economy.

Barrington said: "The government has to accelerate the move by business towards more sustainable consumption and production methods of operation."

Among the recommendations Barrington suggests are tax credits for companies that are able to get more staff working remotely, thus cutting out unnecessary travel and carbon dioxide emissions.

He added: "If the government is serious about tackling climate change then the Chancellor must show how serious he is prepared to be in changing the UK into a low carbon economy."

Separate research out today - from a teleconferencing firm - suggested 70 per cent of business meetings are pointless, and less than a quarter of meetings need to be conducted face-to-face.

However, wasted time is far from the only concern. With execs making unnecessary journeys, including air travel, this points towards unnecessary damage to the environment. Almost a third of respondents said they attend more than four meetings per month out of the office. In total 12 per cent of senior execs polled said they fly once per week on business.

And the cumulative effect is huge. Eliminating just one unnecessary flight from London to New York would save 1.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide.