THE Government has praised two of the UK's largest fleets for their success in reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Environment minister Michael Meacher commended the Royal Mail and BT for their green achievements, and called on other companies to measure, reduce and report their environmental performance.

'I am challenging top companies to measure and report comprehensively on one of their key environmental impacts - their emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide,' he said. 'I am challenging you to set yourselves demanding targets for cost-effective, profitable improvements in performance and efficiency.'

The Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions has published a guide, 'Environmental Reporting: getting started', to help businesses wanting to carry out a green audit and has sent it to 100 major companies which do not disclose their green performance. This has a heavy transport bias, urging employers to investigate how staff travel to work and how goods are distributed. For a copy of the guide call 0171 890 6568.