carboNZeroCertTM programme ranked No.1

carboNZeroCertTM programme ranked No.1 in Australasia

Consumers searching Carbon Catalog (www.carboncatalog.org) for the most transparent carbon offset provider in Australasia will find Landcare Research’s carboNZero programme at the very top of the list.

Launched in 2007, Carbon Catalog is the web's biggest directory of carbon offsets and does not sell offsets or have commercial relationships with providers. The listings and ratings follow transparent guidelines taken from the information provided on each provider’s website and the information must be specific facts and figures such as, names, places, dates and amounts, rather than claims or principles. This means the only way for providers to improve their rating is by providing more information.

With over 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions offset through the carboNZero programme to date, this New Zealand success has established itself as an internationally recognised GHG certification scheme. It is the only GHG certification scheme in New Zealand based on solid science working with the World Resource Institute and the International Standards Organisation to develop global protocols for measuring and reporting carbon footprints.

According to carboNZero programme General Manager – Technical, Ann Smith, the programmes’ requirements for transparency through the disclosure page far exceed any other equivalent certification scheme.

“That is because we believe that our transparency requirements help to ensure credibility and integrity for both our programme and for the client by being open to scrutiny and the disclosure page also provides valuable information for others to take similar climate change action,” Professor Smith says.

Unlike offset brokering companies, the carboNZero programme provides a world class GHG certification scheme focused primarily on measuring and reducing GHG emissions. For those organisations who wish to go a step further and make a creditable carbon neutral claim, the carboNZero programme offers optional verified carbon credits from credible New Zealand projects or assists companies with technical guidance on the quality of credits for those who wish to purchase directly from project providers.

Mike Tournier, carboNZero programme Business Manager says an unfortunate side of the emerging carbon economy are the requirements for organisations to filter out the numerous ‘cheque book certification providers’ who, for an exchange of sometimes questionable offsets, will issue a certificate.

“Our ethos is around robust and credible procedures across all steps – measure, manage, mitigate and market – and the Carbon Catalog ranking is further confirmation of this pursuit of excellence”, he says.

Carbon Catalog is kept up-to-date using a combination of software tracking and manual curation. Their web robot checks the provider websites daily, detecting and flagging any relevant changes. They review these changes on a regular basis, updating listings as appropriate.

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