Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) is urging more companies to adopt their own "green champions" to promote more environmentally- friendly ways of doing business.

The call follows last week's May Day Business Summit on Climate Change, which was attended by more than 1600 senior managers at 12 locations across the UK. In Scotland, 128 companies have now joined the May Day Network, engaging over 100,000 staff to tackle climate change. At the event in Edinburgh staged by SBC, 100 companies made 150 pledges to begin new initiatives.

Susan Rice, chief executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland, told delegates at the summit: "We're already carbon neutral, but we've also set a stretching target to reduce our carbon emissions 30% by 2012, against a 2002 baseline."

She added: "Some of the initiatives are around our customers, such as encouraging online rather than paper communications. Others involve our people, our buildings and the way we do business - both internally and externally. Shortening the time to open a new account, for instance, may be greener because we're on the PC for less time per transaction, but it's also more efficient for the bank and most importantly, it's on the customer's agenda."

Rice cited BT's unveiling of a new line of energy-efficient phones, designed to consume around half the power of previous models, which will result in an overall reduction in CO2 emissions of 195,000 tonnes over the next three years. "That's the equivalent of taking 57,000 cars off the road for a year - and they'll sell some phones."

She said Scottish and Southern Energy had launched a programme that rewarded customers for using less energy.

"That's counter-intuitive perhaps for an energy provider, but it reflects the values of SSE and its staff. It'll also make for happy customers and therefore possibly more customers."

Samantha Barber, chief executive of SBC, said: "We believe that the May Day Network has the potential to galvanise businesses across Scotland to tackle their climate change impacts. For some this will be about sharing best practice, for others this will mark the start of their journey."

Lloyds TSB is to chair a new initiative to help small businesses, with one in five small firms saying they cannot afford to think about carbon reduction and sustainability, according to research for BT. The Supplier Support & Information Initiative for Small Businesses, working with the Small Business Consortium, will aim to lift sustainability standards at the same time as enhancing the competitiveness and profitability of smaller firms supplying larger organisations in the public and private sectors.

According to the research, one in 10 small businesses claim that they are already asked about their green credentials by customers during the procurement process.

However, only 1% of small businesses consider the green credentials of a supplier when they procure goods and services.

David Grayson, chairman of the Small Business Consortium, said: "As small businesses account for over half of the UK workforce, it is crucial that they have the right resources in place to help them tackle climate change. However, the bottom line is always a top priority, and a key objective is to help business owners wake up to the wider benefits of implementing responsible practices, such as staff retention, positive publicity and reduced overheads. This way they can reduce their carbon footprint, as they continue to grow their business."

The consortium today announces the relaunch of its resource site www.smallbusinessjourney.com.

Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland and the firm's "green champion", said: "I think it's really important to demonstrate to businesses how being environmentally responsible can help the bottom line. About 80,000 BT people work flexibly, including 15,000 who work from home. Our flexible working programmes cut down on travel to work and have allowed us to save many millions of pounds a year on property costs, including power and heating, by losing 4000 buildings from our estate.

"In 2006/07 we reduced our waste to landfill by 42%, up 8% on the previous year. Our campaigns to encourage staff to unplug and switch off have potential to save us £500,000 a year. All these measures could equally apply to a small business."

He added: "I strive to make a difference by leading from the top. I'm not asking anyone to do anything I don't already do myself. I work from home on a regular basis and when I do need to be in the office I try and time it to avoid heavy-polluting, rush-hour traffic and sometimes take the bus. When weather permits I cycle. I attend most meetings by using web and teleconferencing - three-quarters of BT meetings are now virtual - and when I have to travel for business to other cities in the UK I generally take the train."

He concluded: "A major element of our strategy is about encouraging our 106,000 employees to reduce their personal emissions. We encourage employees to set up carbon clubs - voluntary clubs which focus on footprint reduction and can be about whatever interests the club members."