2 March 2005
London’s Iconic Black Cabs - Go Green
Radio Taxis Group takes responsibility for climate change impact by going CarbonNeutral®
- Livingstone hails initiative that takes responsibility for all passenger emissions
- Offset delivered through best practice solar, micro hydro & forestry projects
2 March 2005: The Radio Taxis Group, with a fleet of over 3,000 world famous London black cabs and 80 executive cars,announced today that it is going CarbonNeutral®. This means that the Group has embarked on a comprehensive programme to measure and reduce its Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions - and to offset the remaining unavoidable emissions through renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka and Bulgaria and sustainable forestry projects in the UK and Germany.
Together the projects will save and absorb some 24,000 tonnes of CO2 at a cost of circa £100,000 per annum - an equivalent tonnage to that emitted by the business ensuring that its net emissions are zero and that it is CarbonNeutral®.
In what may become a watershed announcement Radio Taxis Group is the first major transport business to commit to cover not only the emissions produced by offices and operations - but also to take responsibility for all emissions created by the 3.8 million passengers who order, or hail, one of its cabs every year.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking at the launch said:
"I congratulate Radio Taxis on making this commitment - and hope many other London businesses will follow their lead.
I recently announced rigorous new emissions standards for London’s 20,000 black cabs to help tackle air pollution in London. Rather than complaining, I am delighted that Radio Taxis have decided to go even further and tackle carbon emissions right across their operations. Climate change is the biggest challenge facing the planet. Radio Taxis’ actions demonstrate that forward-thinking businesses have an important role to play in creating a sustainable future."
The project, led by Future Forests Ltd, started with an independent audit of emissions by The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management (ECCM), part of the UK’s leading carbon consultancy ESD Ltd. Its report calculated the business’s ’carbon footprint’ at almost 24,000 tonnes CO2 per annum and put forward strategies for reduction of these emissions at source.
Andrew Herbert, Director at Radio Taxis Group, commented:
"Our aim is to be a responsible business. In the transport sector the challenge is to balance the need to travel with the needs of the environment. Going CarbonNeutral® allows us to take immediate action in the face of climate change, and to put in place a rigorous programme designed to deliver year-on-year emissions reductions and improvements in our environmental performance.
But we also believe that facing up to climate change makes business sense. Our corporate customers are increasingly concerned about sustainability in their supply chain, and our private customers, whether booking through the telephone or hailing us on the street, can be assured that this is the most environmentally responsible and safest taxi journey they can take."
As an immediate result of recommendations on emissions reductions the Group is switching to ’green’ electricity for its offices and adopting a company-wide environmental policy addressing energy, waste and transport. In addition the company will be running a communications campaign in, and on, every one of its cabs to highlight the actions taken to tackle its climate change impacts, which will include changing its brand identity from orange to green.
Radio Taxis Group: Project management by Future Forests Ltd. Carbon Auditing by Energy For Sustainable Development Ltd [ESD Ltd] through
Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management. Offset by Future Forests Ltd
under the CarbonNeutral® protocol. Annual audit of carbon management process by KPMG.
ENDS
For further information, photography or comment:
Greg Moore @ Four Communications plc: + 44 (0) 870 420 3216 / Greg.moore@fourplc.com
Notes to Editors:
Radio Taxis Group:
Radio Taxis is one of London’s leading black cab companies with a fleet of over 3000
The company demutualised in June 2004 raising over £10 million in the process for investment in business growth and new opportunities.
Based in North London, Geoffrey Riesel is the Chairman. Yellow Cabs Chairman, Brian McBride, now holds a minority stake of 28%.
Future Forests Ltd:
Future Forests Ltd is the leading climate change business, which helps companies and the public understand their contribution to global warming and then to take action in a way, which delivers broad-based environmental benefit.
CarbonNeutral® is the registered trademark of Future Forests. It means global warming emissions have been measured, reductions identified and recommended, and remaining emissions fully offset through carbon credits purchased from
renewable energy, energy efficiency and/or forestry projects around the world in accordance with Future Forests CarbonNeutral® Protocol, which incorporates established international guidelines and is verified annually by an independent auditor.
Included within the pricing of Future Forests products and services are:
independent monitoring and verification; contracts with carbon offset partners to protect customers and the carbon promise; insurances of the carbon promise. Where a forestry solution is included this covers the forestry for a 99-year period.
Future Forests’ has over 200 corporate clients including HSBC, Honda UK, Avis Europe,, Virgin Megastores, EMI, Crystal Holidays, T-Mobile, Barclays Bank Plc, Volvo; and 50,000+ members of the public; and a growing number of celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Roland Emmerich, Dido and Coldplay.
