CO₂ Offset Programme

As a part of an ongoing commitment to address the challenges of climate change, Land Rover has become the first car manufacturer to launch its own CO₂ Offset Programme.

This unique initiative is managed by Climate Care and includes a commitment from Land Rover to offset its manufacturing assembly CO₂ emissions. It also includes a customer vehicle package that offsets the CO₂ emissions whilst driving a Land Rover.

All UK Land Rover vehicles from 2007 model year include the CO₂ Offset Package which is based on offsetting the CO₂ produced by vehicle over 45,000 miles.

What is CO₂ offsetting?
Many human activities contribute to climate change. Flying, driving, heating and powering our homes and workplaces all burn fossil fuels and this releases greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere.

Offsetting your 'carbon footprint' complements efforts to reduce these gases. It is the key tool for building carbon-responsibility into everyday life.

CO₂ 'offsetting' funds projects that avoid or reduce CO₂ emissions so that the amount saved balances the original emissions. Projects funded by the Land Rover CO₂ offset programme fall into three main categories:

Renewable energy
Technology centre
Energy efficiency

Who is Climate Care?
Land Rover's offset partner, Climate Care, is internationally recognised as a leading provider of CO₂ offsets to both businesses and individuals. In the Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offsets', it was given the highest overall rating, with top rankings in key categories concerning offset quality and transparency of operations.

Why aren't projects funded in the UK?
A part of the UK Government's agreement to the Kyoto protocol, it is committed to a CO₂ reduction target. Excluding projects within countries signed up to Kyoto ensures that additional CO₂ reductions are made to what has already been committed around the world.

All projects are carried out in the developing world, where there are no legal obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Does CO₂ offsetting make a difference to climate change?
To tackle climate change we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world. CO₂ offsetting through Climate Care makes real reductions that would not happen otherwise. It also helps people to quantify and better understand the impact that their activities have on the climate.

Does CO₂ offsetting just give people an excuse to carry on polluting when they should be changing their behaviour?
CO₂ offsetting is a part of a mixture of measures that people can take to reduce their impact on the climate.

In a survey of Climate Care customers, over 90% had done one or more of the following to reduce their 'carbon footprint': made their home more energy efficient, switched to green electricity, driven less, flown less.

Climate Care will be supporting a range of projects specifically for Land Rover over the course of the programme. The first projects are currently under development and include:

Wind Farms in China
Land Rover is supporting the development of 82 wind turbines in Hebei - one of the windiest provinces in China. Our investment will save around 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent to 320 million miles in a new Freelander 2 TD4, a kettle boiling for 13,274 years or a light bulb being switched on for 269,165 years!

The project will also help to develop local skills, infrastructure and know-how. This will in turn encourage similar sustainable developments in the future.

Tajikistan Hydro Plant
Land Rover CO₂ Offset Programme is supporting the installation of two 7MW hydro electricity generators at Lake Yashilkul, which will generate up to 94,000 MWh of electricity a year (enough for 28,000 UK homes), saving up to 50,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year - enough to offset the annual CO₂ emissions from 10,000 Discovery TDV6s.

For the last 15 years residents of the city of Khorog have suffered intermittent energy supplies. This project will provide a reliable source of power for schools and hospitals and enable local people to keep warm and cook without using wood for fuel. This is particularly important in an area where 70% of the trees have been cut for firewood.

For more project examples visit www.climatecare.org.

Please note: Each project undergoes a process to monitor and verify the CO₂ reductions made from them. This is carried out by an independent third party.

CO2 Offset Programme

CO₂ Offset Programme