carboNZnewz Issue 3, April 2008
In this issue:
Welcome... to the third edition of carboNZnewz
In this newsletter, we note the growing interest in the carboNZero programme. ‘Business is booming for the carboNZero programme’ was the heading for a recent NZ Business magazine article. The growth in companies joining the programme has been nothing short of spectacular over the past 12 months. With more than 100 businesses and organisations currently progressing towards certification, it has been a very busy quarter for the whole team. Congratulations to Kaimira Ventures and Trade Me Limited, the latest companies to be awarded carboNZero certification. It’s great to see another carboNZero certified winery. We are delighted to have Trade Me join our very special group of carboNZero certified companies.
In late February our business plan was signed off by the Board of Landcare Research. Some key elements of the plan were endorsement of our business strategy and marketing plans, supporting resource and underwriting infrastructure requirements for growth both domestically and internationally. The carboNZero programme is now an internal Strategic Business Unit (SBU) within Landcare Research.
Both our mission and vision focus on reducing emissions to the atmosphere, providing practical business solutions built on credible science, and being the trusted providers of greenhouse gas measurement and management certification able to withstand the most intense scrutiny. We aim to be one of three top schemes in the world for certifying greenhouse gas assertions.
Many of you may already have noticed a marked increase in media focus around the carboNZero programme and carbon market issues in general. This has been part of our marketing strategy to increase brand awareness and create healthy debate in the carbon market space, particularly around false or misleading claims of carbon neutrality, the emergence of carbon cowboys and, of course, the ever-present risk of junk credits.
Uptake and interest from the media has been strong; however, we are disappointed that some journalists and media outlets rushed to print without first checking the facts or validating a story that led to incorrect statements being aired about the programme and our clients. We are always pleased to assist journalists and welcome scrutiny, but we expect the media to follow their own codes of practice for the quality of reporting.
Those of you who have invested in marketing your carbon credentials will be pleased to know we moved very quickly to remedy these errors through both legal channels and professional bodies to ensure our clients’ investment was protected and the strong value proposition around the carboNZero certification was maintained. Subsequently, retractions and apologies were printed and follow-on articles focused on the importance for companies to apply credible standards and the leadership of the carboNZero programme in certification of carbon neutral claims.
All this has highlighted the need for journalists and the media to be better informed and equipped about this emerging industry so that they can apply robust and critical analysis to claims and counterclaims being made. We realise that the nature of our business means we are likely to face sceptics and misinformed reporting. We do not see this as a threat in anyway but rather a challenge to ensure we continue to enhance the core values at the heart of the carboNZero programme – credibility and integrity. We are developing master classes to assist company boards and the media to improve literacy and fluency in carbon market issues.
Professor Ann Smith
Technical Manager
carboNZero programme
Landcare Research’s carbon footprinting goes global
New Zealand’s leading solution for greenhouse gas measurement is taking its expertise to the world.
Landcare Research has signed an exciting partnership with British-based Achilles Information Limited (see www.achilles.com), , the leading global provider of supplier management services, to provide the measurement, management and certification steps of our highly successful carboNZero programme to its 30,000 clients in 23 countries.
The deal will see the carboNZero programme licensed to Achilles, with carboNZero staff seconded to Britain later this year for training.
Landcare Research business manager Mike Tournier says the partnership is an example of a New Zealand organisation ‘punching above its weight’ by creating value to the New Zealand economy both domestically and through exports of our information technology and intellectual property.
‘This partnership shows that the world is recognising Landcare Research’s carboNZero programme as being a leader in carbon accounting schemes at a time when there is generally an absence of quality providers.’
The carboNZero GM Technical, Professor Ann Smith, agrees.
‘For a global organisation like Achilles to come all the way down to the Antipodes and select our programme is testament to the credibility of the programme and the skills of our staff. It also shows a commitment from Achilles to search out the best business solutions for its clients around the world.’
The partnership will initially involve a pilot scheme within the utilities sector in the UK and then be rolled out to the wider Achilles client base.
The carboNZero programme is an internationally recognised greenhouse gas scheme – commonly referred to as carbon footprinting - for organisations, products, services and events, offering optional mitigation strategies through the provision of credible and verified offsets.
The carboNZero programme is the only New Zealand carbon emissions solution that is based on solid science and able to meet the demands of emission trading schemes, carbon disclosure projects and emerging world-best-practice, the latter being most important to our New Zealand exporters.
The carboNZero programme provides robust tools and processes for accurately measuring greenhouse gas emissions or carbon profiles, tracking business performance improvement of these emissions, and managing the associated business risk and reduction planning with the highest level of credibility and integrity.
Achilles Group Chief Executive Colin Maund says those points were a key reason for the company choosing the carboNZero programme.
‘Achilles was looking for a credible solution for measuring carbon emissions based on proven academic and scientific research, and that centred on the premise of reducing emissions and developing long-term strategy. In Landcare Research we have found a partner whose values reflect our own, whose services can be replicated across a whole range of industry sectors, and a programme which offers a practical way forward at a reasonable cost to our communities.’
The Achilles Group works to identify, assess and monitor suppliers on behalf of major organisations worldwide. Achilles builds and supports buyer–supplier communities in many industry sectors, creating unique and powerful global networks. Achilles’ services for sustainable procurement help create opportunities for business and reduce risk in the supply chain.
Achilles currently operates in the following sectors: Oil and Gas, Utilities, Transport, Public Sector, Pharmaceuticals, Mining, Construction and Information Communications Technology (ICT).
‘There has been a lot of interest generated by this programme amongst our customers who want to tackle carbon emissions in the supply chain via the unique Achilles collaborative model. The partnership with Landcare Research will enable us to provide our customers with a credible and robust solution which has already proved to be very successful across a range of industries and communities’, says Frances Darton, Achilles Group programme manager.
Measuring greenhouse gas emissions raises awareness of climate change impacts and identifies opportunities to manage and reduce emissions.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is good for the environment and good for business. It requires us to make changes to the way we manage energy, water, waste and biodiversity. In taking up the challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, businesses are setting out on a sustainability journey that will bring many other benefits.
More auditors and advisors for the carboNZero programme
We appreciate the importance of supporting the increased demand for carboNZero certification and to ensure our high levels of service and client support are maintained. As a result we are adding more staff to the carboNZero programme team, undertaking additional external auditor training sessions, and establishing a network of approved independent carboNZero advisors to assist clients wanting additional assistance to progress through the programme.
carboNZero certification is awarded only after independent verification of the measure, manage and mitigate steps by authorised auditors. The use of the carboNZero certification marks is also examined during the audit. Our authorised auditors are employed by reputable firms, have at least five years' auditing experience including qualifications such as RAB-QSA (e.g. lead auditor or higher) and prior experience and proficiency in greenhouse gas emissions measurement, management and mitigation. To be authorised, auditors must complete a training course, an examination and be observed undertaking an audit.
Likewise, carboNZero-programme-approved advisors will need to have demonstrated competency and mastery in the various disciplines of our programme, be able to assist and mentor clients through the process of becoming audit ready and, like our approved auditors, maintain the high ethical standards that our scheme demands. Keep an eye out on our website over the next few months as we list our new approved auditors and advisors
New updated version of E-Manage on its way!
Over the last nine months, the carboNZero IT team along with our software development partner, Intergen, have been working on a major upgrade of E-Manage. The project represents a significant investment of over $300,000 by Landcare Research in future-proofing the greenhouse gas emissions measure and manage infrastructure needs of our clients.
The new version of E-manage uses standard off-the-shelf software packages, integrated under a service-orientated-architecture model to produce an application capable of integration with both existing and new applications, greater user interaction, improved performance and more accurate reporting – with the added feature of being easily scaled up, as the list of functionality and requirements grows.
The new system is currently in user acceptance testing (UAT) and over the next few months we will commence migrating our certified clients and their data over to the new system. Those of you currently registered on E-manage will receive over the next few weeks additional details on the upgrade and the migration plan.
2008 Small Business Expos
Organised by Sarah Trotman & Associates, the Small Business Expos are the largest events held for owners of small-to-medium-size businesses in New Zealand. Last year the events attracted 13,000 business people to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. This year there are over 200 exhibitors, all under one roof for three days, providing quality products, services, free seminars, specialist advice and mentoring. The events give you access to information that helps you be a better business owner, make better business decisions and improve your productivity.
As part of their overall journey towards a sustainable business model, Sarah Trotman & Associates aim to measure, manage and mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions across all of their initiatives. The carboNZero programme provides the framework for them to minimise their environmental impacts. All emissions for the expos are measured, including staff travel and exhibitor site transport. An extensive national communications campaign advises exhibitors and attendees as to how to manage their travel and transport to reduce their carbon emissions. The organisers also work closely with the venues to ensure energy efficient systems are in place for the expos. Expert speakers, mentors and services are available at the expos to provide realistic steps for attendees to integrate sustainable strategies into their normal business practices. Lastly, Sarah Trotman & Associates intend to offset the event’s carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits from landfill gas, windpower projects and native regeneration forestry projects. ‘We believe the carboNZero programme will stand us in good stead for future-proofing our business and educating the small business sector’.
Small enterprise certification scheme
As part of the carboNZero programme’s own journey towards a well rounded certification scheme, we are proud to unveil our small enterprise certification scheme at the Small Business Expos. This will be available to all small enterprises that have a single site with less than 50 tonnes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year and seek organisation certification to demonstrate their climate change action with the highest integrity. The small enterprise will receive a certificate stating that they are carboNZero certified, after a third party audit has confirmed that the 3 steps (measure, reduce and offset) have been completed. Please contact us if you would like more information.
The 2008 Small Business Expo was held in Auckland (16-18 April) and will be held in Christchurch (20-22 May) and Wellington (25-27 June). To attend simply register online today and download your free ticket by clicking on the link relevant to the expo location you want to visit.
www.carbonzero.co.nz/members/events_certified.asp#SBexpo08
If you are attending and would like to schedule a one-on-one session to discuss carboNZero certification with one of the programme's sustainability advisors, please contact Kathryn Hailes on 03 321 9735 or email hailesk@landcareresearch.co.nz
Upcoming events participating in the carboNZero programme
carboNZero certified events
Small Business Expos 2008 |
20–22 May ● 25–27 June |
| Ecotourism NZ Conference | 12 – 14 August 2008 |
New Zealand Organisation for Quality ‘learn-share-grow’ Conference |
22 – 24 October 2008-04-28 |
Events participating in the programme
Government Information System Managers Forum |
2 May 2008 |
Auckland Writers & Readers Festival |
15–18 May 2008 |
Pure Luxury New Zealand |
21–23 May 2008 |
| State Services Senior Leaders Development Conference | 19 June 2008 |
Keep your eye on the carboNZero events pages: www.carbonzero.co.nz/members/events.asp
In this month's top links, we feature investigations into the quality of carbon credits:
Carbon markets: time to clean up
Green Futures (19 March 2008) - The Clean Development Mechanism is widely derided as a source of easy pickings for wealthy polluters.
www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/greenfutures/articles/CarbonMkts_time2cleanup
Making sense of the voluntary carbon market: a comparison of carbon offset standards
A report commissioned by WWF and prepared by the Stockholm Environment
Institute and Tricorna (March 2008)
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/vcm_report_final.pdf
Carbon offsetting: Code of Best Practice
UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (February 2008) -
The code covers only Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) that are compliant with the Kyoto Protocol.
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/carbonoffset/codeofpractice.htm
Is the CDM fulfilling its environmental and sustainable development objectives? An evaluation of the CDM and options for improvement
A report commissioned by WWF and prepared by the Oeko-Institut, Germany (November 2007)
www.oekoinstitut.de/oekodoc/622/2007-162-en.pdf.
How to green your carbon offsets
Treehugger (13 July 2007) - Comprehensive guide to carbon offsets emphasising the need to ask questions and know where your money is going.
www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/how-to-green-your-carbon-offsets.php
The inconvenient truth about the carbon offset industry
Guardian (16 June 2007) - How greenhouse gas credits do little or nothing to combat global warming
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/jun/16/climatechange.climatechange
Note that most of the top newspapers have regular sections on carbon trading and the environment:
- Financial Times - www.ft.com/indepth/carbontrading
- Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonemissions
- The NY Times - www.nytimes.com/pages/science/
- The Times - www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/
- NZ Herald - www.nzherald.co.nz/category/index.cfm?c_id=39
Energy saving
EECA, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, suggests that successful businesses are always looking for ways to reduce operating costs and energy is one large variable cost that can be easily managed and reduced.
During business hours:
- Turn off any equipment not in use
- Pull up window shades to make the most of natural light
- Turn off any non-essential lights in cupboards, toilets and foyers
- Don't use heating or air conditioning if the windows and doors are open
For more information about the carboNZero programme please contact our marketing team, Kathryn Hailes ( 03 321 9735) and May Chang (03 321 9831), or free phone 0800 CNZERO.
ISSN 1178-3990
