Our ongoing aim to reduce carbon emissions from air and road travel is part of our commitment to sustainability.

Minimising our emissions while continuing to meet our business goals and fulfill our customers’ needs is a big challenge – but one we’re determined to meet.

Objectives

We have committed to a series of objectives to reduce our emissions from air travel, which include the following goals:

• Measure business mileage undertaken by Barclays on a global basis
• Invest in and promote the use of effective video and audio conferencing
• Work with partner travel suppliers to report on and review Barclays travel requirements and impacts
• Review and conform to the environmental standards set out in the Project Icarus carbon reduction programme

Independent accreditation

In 2009, we received independent accreditation for our sustainable travel programme. The Bronze Icarus standard was awarded to Barclays by the Institute of Travel Management (ITM) for our robust carbon reduction targets and processes across our travel and meetings programme – making Barclays the first bank to win the accolade.

Barclays has supported the ITM’s Project Icarus since its launch in 2007. The programme is backed by global businesses and seeks to raise understanding of environmental issues surrounding air travel emissions, promoting corporate best practice and setting high benchmarks across sectors.

To win the accreditation, Barclays had to provide evidence of its targets and processes in line with the Project Icarus pledge to reduce emissions from travel and meetings by 60% before 2050.

Virtual meetings

To reduce the need for air travel, Barclays has installed more than 1,000 video conferencing systems in our offices around the world. A total of 300,000 video conference calls were made across Barclays Group sites in 2009. Sites which provide video conferencing for colleagues have reported decreases in travel costs of as much as 30%.

Barclays will continue increasing and improving its video conferencing services in 2010. Older systems are being upgraded to High Definition and multiple HD video conferencing rooms are now available as standard in all new office buildings.

Greener road travel

Barclays company car fleet in the UK includes hybrid cars, which run on rechargeable electricity as well as conventional fuel, generating lower carbon dioxide emissions than standard vehicles. UK and European car fleets are regularly reviewed to find out where further emissions reductions can be achieved.

In the UK, Barclays supports the Bike2Work government programme, which promotes cycling as a low-carbon option for employees to travel to work. Employees can purchase bikes tax-free, making valuable savings.