Barely a week goes by without a major UK company announcing that they are implementing significant new measures to tackle climate change. In the past, many organisations have had the luxury of voluntarily adopting greater corporate social responsibility. However, more recently these organisations have seen increased pressure from government and industry watchdogs, environment groups, clients, customers and investors to actively place environmental management amongst their top priorities.

The Environment Index The Environment Index league table compares the environmental management and commitment of the UK's largest companies. The Index requires companies to submit annual reports on a complete range of environment issues, from employee programmes and stakeholder engagement to environmental strategy and waste management systems. Carbon Footprints provide a measure of the impact that any organisation, product or service has on the environment.

Carbon Footprints enable consumers to make simple comparative studies between suppliers, to ensure that they do not incur significant increases in their own carbon footprint when purchasing products and services. Carbon footprints cover a vast range of day-to-day operations from the use of company vehicles, business travel, staff commuting and direct energy use in buildings, to the accumulation of food miles for on-site catering, the consumption of raw materials for business equipment, supply chain analysis, HFC emissions, and the production of waste.