Memorandum submitted by the Meeting Without
Moving Foundation
The Meeting Without Moving Foundation (MWMF)
is a not-for-profit organisation which works with businesses to
adopt improved working practices, based around the use of collaborative
technologies, in order to facilitate a new work and travel culture
aimed at:
— reducing carbon emissions from unnecessary
road and air business travel, and therefore protecting the environment;
— reducing unnecessary business travel,
and therefore reducing work-related road traffic accidents. One
person every 15 minutes is killed or seriously injured whilst
undertaking at-work travel (source: RoSPA);
— improving productivity, by reducing
wasted time spent travelling; and
— enabling a more flexible and sustainable
work environment, therefore enhancing work/life balance.
MWMF advocates the use of collaborative technologies
such as video conferencing in the work place as an effective and
environmentally friendly alternative to unnecessary business travel,
therefore significantly decreasing the amount of CO2
emitted by business.
We do not sell equipment, but provide consultancy
and training to organisations to ensure they receive a return
on their original investment in the technology, and adopt improved
working practices to help protect the environment and reduce unnecessary
at-work travel.
We also work within the public sector, and over
the last year, we have been working with various Government Departments
including DEFRA and the Sustainable Development Unit.
We have been in recent discussion with UBS Wealth
Management about these issues and that their 2005 Annual Report
details 94% CO2 emissions from business air travel
(nearly 350,000 flights last year). We are in dialogue with them
to significantly reduce this through the use of their existing
video conferencing systems. We are also in discussion with other
international and FTSE 100 companies to understand a similar impact
on their CO2 emissions and ways in which they can be
reduced at a reduced financial cost.
As highlighted in the announcement by the Environmental
Audit Committee into this inquiry of reducing carbon emissions
from transport, transport's share of total emissions is likely
to increase substantially over the coming years. MWM's philosophy
is not that business should offset carbon emissions, but that
there should be a shift in culture away from actually making the
journey itself, with businesses and individuals being encouraged
to ask the question "is my journey really necessary?"
We recommend that the Committee and Government highlights the
benefits of using technology such as video conferencing as a method
of sustainable, environmentally friendly working. If Government
leads the way in using such technology, then it will be in a good
position to promote it to the private sector.
MWM welcomes this inquiry into reducing CO2
emission from transport but would argue that it needs to be put
into the broader context of an over-arching, cross-Departmental
Government perspective to address issues related to transport
use which impact on not only carbon emissions, but other related
issues such as unnecessary travel, increased productivity and
competitiveness, work-life balance and safety at work. We would
therefore recommend that the report from this Committee be referred
to the Select Committee for DTI, Work and Pensions Select Committee,
Transport Select Committee and the Cabinet Office.
March 2006
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