Jan. 7, 2008 - A new British Telecom survey finds that just 3% of U.K. consumers believe that businesses are "fully open and honest" about what they are really doing to operate in more sustainably, and one-third think companies exaggerate their efforts in order to score brownie points among potential customers.

Employees appear to share the skepticism. Nearly a quarter (23%) of employees surveyed do not believe that the organization that they work for is environmentally and socially responsible. One in five believes that their employer only takes action when forced to by external pressures such as suppliers or customers.

By contrast, 52% of companies say they are taking significant steps to improve their impact on the environment and communities, and one-third say they are doing "everything they can," according to the survey. Interestingly, however, just over half (56%) of businesses believe that they have a responsibility to consider the sustainability record of their suppliers.

"For those that are genuinely taking sustainability seriously, there are significant benefits to be had in terms of reputation and marketability. But this requires businesses to be more confident and transparent in their communications," says Tim Smart, CEO of BT Global Services U.K. "Both employees and consumers need to be told about the good work being done, and businesses need to work hard to deliver evidence and ensure that the story they are telling is credible and convincing."

When consumers were asked to name the sector most focused on sustainability, utilities fared best (25%), followed by government/nonprofit (19%), retail (16%), construction (8%), transport (5%), media (5%), and finance (3%).