9 March 2012

BT products first to achieve independent verification by Carbon Trust under new international standard

BT has become the first company in the world to have product carbon footprints independently verified by the Carbon Trust to the new GHG Protocol Product Standard. [1] The independent verification covers three of BT’s most popular consumer products; the BT Home Hub, the BT Vision+ digital set-top box and the BT Graphite 2500 DECT phone.

Gabrielle Ginér, BT’s environmental sustainability manager, said: “Working with the experts from the Carbon Trust on carbon footprinting and independent verification against the new GHG Protocol Product Standard, has enabled us to understand the full life cycle emissions for these products. We are really proud to be the first company to achieve this. It has helped to give us a sense of the size and scale of the carbon impact and will allow us to focus our carbon reduction activities on where they will make the most difference.”

Darran Messem, Managing Director of Certification at the Carbon Trust, said: “We congratulate BT for being quick off the mark in becoming the first organisation to have product carbon footprints independently verified by the Carbon Trust under the GHG Protocol Product Standard. The Carbon Trust has a long-term commitment to supporting the development of international standards in carbon footprinting which we see as vital to address climate change.”

This latest achievement marks a further milestone in BT’s commitment to carbon reduction.

BT has also been one of the companies instrumental in setting up an initiative to develop guidance on how to assess the greenhouse gas emissions of various information and communication technology (ICT) services, such as telecommunications network services and desktop managed services. The GHG Protocol Product Standard ICT Sector Guidance is being developed by a number of ICT companies and other interested stakeholders in collaboration with the Carbon Trust, the World Resources Institute (WRI), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI).

Pankaj Bhatia, Director of GHG Protocol, at World Resources Institute, said “BT was a successful road-tester of our Product Standard. The completion of three product inventories with independent verification following the comprehensive lifecycle approach of the Product Standard, demonstrates BT’s commitment to measuring and managing their greenhouse gas performance. We are also pleased with the leadership role BT is playing in the development of sector guidance for more complex ICT networks and services.”

Carbon footprinting is an important part of BT’s pursuit of carbon reduction opportunities, including its supply chain and portfolio of products and services. BT is committed to a number of major initiatives to lower its energy consumption, like integrated energy management, to reduce its carbon intensity by 80 per cent by 2020, compared to 1997 levels.

Notes

1. GHG Protocol Product Standard is the abbreviated name for the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard, launched October 2011.

For more information, visit www.ghgprotocol.org/standards/product-standard

About Carbon Trust Certification:

Carbon Trust Certification offers a full range of services to allow organisations to certify and verify their product carbon footprints. Carbon Trust Certification provides independent verification of the carbon footprints of products and services against the PAS 2050 and WRI global standards for product carbon footprinting, the Carbon Trust's Footprint Expert TM and the Carbon Trust Code of Good Practice for Product Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Claims. Carbon Trust Certification is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to ISO 14065:2007 to provide greenhouse gas verification against PAS 2050 and the Code of Good Practice. More information can be found at: http://www.carbontrustcertification.com

About the Carbon Trust

The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit company with the mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy, providing specialist support to business and the public sector to help cut carbon emissions, save energy and commercialise low carbon technologies. By stimulating low carbon action we contribute to key UK goals of lower carbon emissions, the development of low carbon businesses, increased energy security and associated jobs.

We help to cut carbon emissions now by:

• Providing specialist advice and finance to help organisations cut carbon
• Setting standards for carbon reduction

We reduce potential future carbon emissions by: