Gaydon, Warwickshire, 2 February 2007 – Leading international environmental figures from government, business and education have signed up to oversee Land Rover's industry leading carbon dioxide offset programme.

An independent Board of Governance, specially formed for this purpose, will include, among others, one of the first people to raise awareness of climate change, the former government adviser and diplomat, Sir Crispin Tickell. He'll be joined by the director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford, Professor Diana Liverman, the director of the Business Programme at the sustainable development charity, Forum For The Future, Dr Sally Uren, and the government adviser and former director of environment policy at B&Q, Alan Knight. Further appointments will be announced in due course.

Land Rover has cut emissions with each successive model in its range and is developing technologies to make further improvements. The CO2 emissions from its main manufacturing plant at Solihull have been cut by 30% over the past 10 years. The offset programme is a key part of an integrated approach to further reducing CO2 emissions and will offset all of the CO2 generated by Land Rover’s manufacturing operations and the first 45,000 miles of vehicle use by its UK customers. It is run by Climate Care, a highly respected offset provider. The ultimate goal is CO2 neutrality with investments being made in renewable energy projects such as wind and solar, technology change and energy efficiency.


Sir Crispin said, “Climate change is a long standing issue and these are important steps towards practical actions to tackle part of that problem.” Sally Uren said, “Offset schemes are a useful way of engaging the public on the climate change agenda. However, offsetting is a transition mechanism at best, as it will be investment in new technologies that will provide the long-term solutions to climate change. Land Rover recognises this and we look forward to seeing new advances in technology reach the market in the not too distant future.”

Phil Popham, Land Rover’s Managing Director, said, “The Land Rover carbon offset programme is an industry leading initiative and demonstrates our commitment to the environment, which includes investing in new technologies to further reduce the emissions from our vehicles. I am delighted that such distinguished figures, who’ve played leading roles in highlighting the issue of climate change, have agreed to give us their advice and assistance in tackling this issue.”

The board will meet every four months and will use its expertise to ensure due diligence is exercised throughout the offset process to make certain it is accountable, efficient and transparent.

Biographies

Sir Crispin Tickell Sir Crispin Tickell was Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission (1977-1980), British Ambassador to Mexico (1981-1983), Permanent Secretary of the Official Development Assistance (now Department for International Development) (1984-1987), and British Ambassador to the United Nations and Permanent Representative on the UN Security Council (1987-1990), adviser on environmental issues to three successive British prime ministers as well as Convenor of the British Government Panel on Sustainable Development. Tickell was one of the first people to call attention to the hazards of global warming. Author of “Climate Change and World Affairs”, he is also in the unique position of understanding both science and public policy.

Professor Diana Liverman Currently, director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford, Professor Liverman was previously Associate Director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University. She has also served as chair of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, and as a member of advisory committees for NASA, NOAA and the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. She is a member of editorial boards of the Annual Review of Environment and Resources and of Climatic Change.

Dr Sally Uren Sally joined Forum’s Business Programme in 2002. Since then she’s been working with business partners across all sectors to get to grips with sustainability, has overseen and contributed to a wide range of research projects – all designed to unlock the links between sustainable development and successful business – and has presented at both national and international conferences. Prior to joining the Forum, Sally founded and directed the Sustainability Group at private consultancy Casella Stanger (now owned by Bureau Veritas).

Dr Alan Knight OBE Alan Knight has 15 years experience of understanding the impact and opportunities CSR and sustainable development provide to global retail and is the SDC’s Commissioner on Sustainable Consumption. He is the founder of “Single Planet Living” Limited, a company that offers coaching and presentations on SD in retailer and commerce. From 1990 to 2000 he served as Head of Sustainable Development at B&Q, the UK’s market leader in home improvement and part of the Kingfisher Group. He co-chaired the UK Government's Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and serves on the UK Sustainable Development Commission and was for 6 years chair of the Government's Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment (ACCPE). He chairs DEFRA’s Ethical Trading Champions group and DTI’s Retail Innovation and Sustainability group. He sits on the technical advisory group for Duchy Originals, is an Ambassador to WWF UK and is a former director of both the Tropical Forest Trust and the Forest Stewardship Council.