With everyone talking about "going green," it’s easy to become skeptical about such claims. What BT announced today, however, goes well beyond talking.

Besides committing to reducing its own carbon emissions by 80% in the next 12 years, BT has also developed a model for businesses to determine what they should be doing to reduce their "carbon intensity" -- a measurement that links carbon emissions to a company’s contribution to the global Gross Domestic Product.

The model, called the Climate Stabilization Intensity Target, effectively tells a corporation what they should be doing every year to reduce carbon emissions in order to contribute to global efforts to stabilize the world’s climate.

Dr. Chris Tuppen, the man who developed the CSI Target, is also hoping to see the telecom industry -- including service providers and manufacturers -- step up to the challenge of making their own operations more fuel efficient.

There is tremendous opportunity for telecom in the global push to reduce use of non-renewable energy sources such as oil and in the process eliminate carbon emissions as well. Telepresence, telecommuting and telemedicine are all “top of the head” notions of how to reduce the need for fuel-hungry travel. But as Tuppen points out, and a new report from the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSi) later this month will spell out, there is much more that the information and communications technology industry can be doing to make our environment safer and more stabile for years to come.

And here’s the no-brainer aspect to all of this: It represents a tremendous business opportunity for the ICT industry as well. There is a great deal of money to be made helping businesses operate more efficiency.

The catch is that telecom network operators need to be following BT’s example of getting their own houses in order as well. BT’s leading, and it’s time for everyone else to follow.

E-mail me at cwilson3@telephonyonline.com.