Gartner - enterprise in denial about carbon management

Most enterprises are in denial about carbon management, Gartner says

A high proportion of IT professionals responsible for "green IT" programs are unsure whether their enterprises are considering carbon pricing, according to Gartner. A recent Gartner survey found that 36% of respondents that were responsible for green IT programs in enterprises said it was possible, or they didn't know, if carbon pricing was influencing their organization's planning for the next 24 months.

A total of 45.7% of respondents said that carbon pricing was not influencing their organizations planning, while 18.3% said it was influencing their organization's planning for the next 24 months. The survey results indicate that for most countries, the percentage of enterprises planning ahead for carbon pricing goes beyond those obliged to consider it under established regulations.

The UK and France recorded some of the lowest percentages at 7.9% and 10.5%, respectively, while in India and China, 21.1% and 20% of enterprises, respectively, indicated that carbon pricing was influencing planning. Gartner said this is particularly surprising for the UK given that the country's Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) goes into effect in 2010 and is estimated to affect 5,000 enterprises.

Western Europe is best prepared, with 32% saying that they have some kind of system in place - twice as many as the Asia/Pacific region or the US, according to Gartner. However, there were some stark contrasts with 2.6% of French enterprises, compared with 74.4% of German enterprises having such systems in place. Most of those enterprises with systems in place had in-house developments (mostly spreadsheets).

Australia has made the most rapid progress overall in this area in the last 15 months, and Gartner expects that to continue during the next 18 months. The proportion of enterprises anticipating implementing carbon management tools during the next 18 months in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was low at 17% and the US was slightly more than 18%.