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NQA’s Six-Point Plan To Cut Carbon Emissions

NQA, one of the world’s leading assessment and certification bodies, has produced a simple six-point checklist to help companies take control of and reduce their carbon footprint.

Catherine Golds, Head of NQA, reminds companies:  “What is often ignored is that there are sound financial reasons for reducing your environmental impact.  If you cut your consumption of energy and water, use fewer raw materials and reduce waste, you will cut your costs and ultimately improve your bottom line, in addition to reducing your carbon footprint.”

NQA’s plan is suitable for organisations of all sizes and can lead to changes that will make a real difference and save money.  Their recommendations are:

1. Calculate your carbon footprint - there are a number of carbon calculators available to help businesses calculate their carbon footprint.
2. Develop a phased plan for managing your carbon emissions - smart companies draw up a phased plan as part of a more formal Environmental Management System (EMS)
3. Reduce your carbon footprint - identify where carbon emissions can be avoided and then reduced
4. Engage employees - it is important to inspire employees to improve the environmental performance of the organisation, and also their personal environmental performance.
5. Offset those carbon emissions that cannot be reduced - purchase carbon offsets from emission reduction projects to compensate for emissions which cannot be avoided.
6. Review your strategy annually.

Having an EMS in place will make staff more aware of the opportunities for savings in other areas.  It will also improve stakeholder relationships as staff, customers, neighbours, potential customers and others become aware that the company takes its environmental responsibilities seriously.  This will provide more opportunities to win new business.

So the message is that an EMS is not an extra to be bolted on when a company has the time and money to spend on putting one in place, but an essential part of the efficient management of any organisation, whatever its size.

NQA practices what it preaches; the company’s comprehensive Environmental Policy Statement is available for all to see on its website www.nqa.com.  It also recycles its disposable vending cups and turns them into attractive mug and mouse mats.

Published 17/06/2008

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