An Overview of the Greenhouse Friendly™ Initiative
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Introduction
Greenhouse Friendly™ is composed of two interrelated parts. One part relates to product and service certification, whereby certified products and services are eligible to be labelled with the Greenhouse Friendly™ logo. Under a rigorous certification process, the ‘cradle-to-grave’ greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, use and disposal of certified products or services are fully offset by approved Greenhouse Friendly™ abatement. Consumer confidence is provided through an objective independent verification process that underpins Greenhouse Friendly™ certification.
Greenhouse Friendly™ product and service certification creates part of the demand for the second part of the initiative - that is, abatement from Greenhouse Friendly™ approved abatement projects. These abatement projects must occur in Australia, and must generate additional, permanent and verifiable greenhouse gas emissions reductions or sequestration. Additional abatement projects are generally associated with an investment or behaviour change that would normally not be undertaken as part of the company’s established operating practices, or under existing internal investment requirements.
Examples of the types of abatement activities which may be approved under Greenhouse Friendly™ include energy effi ciency measures, waste diversion and recycling, capture and flaring of land fi ll gas and other fugitive emissions, generation of renewable energy, and tree planting and avoided deforestation projects.
Greenhouse Friendly™ approved abatement can be used by:
- Greenhouse Friendly™ product and service providers to offset the emissions associated with their certifi ed product or service; and
- Greenhouse Challenge Plus™ members as an offset in their Greenhouse Challenge Plus™ emissions inventories or to meet greenhouse goals as Greenhouse Challenge Plus™ Leaders.
Greenhouse Friendly™ approved abatement can also be sold outside the Greenhouse Challenge Plus™ framework.
Overall, the Greenhouse Friendly™ initiative aims to help meet the challenge of climate change by:
- providing businesses and consumers the opportunity to sell and purchase greenhouse-neutral products and services;
- broadening the basis for investment in greenhouse gas abatement; and
- engaging business and consumers on climate change issues.
