14 Feb 2013
National Bank awarded first certification
As North American businesses become increasingly aware of the important role they play in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, Enviro-access—one of only two organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) as a GHG validation and audit firm—is launching its new Carbon Care® certification.
Enviro-access CEO Manon Laporte explains: “The organizations that voluntarily commit to GHG reductions and seek our experts’ help wished to see the creation of a credible and rigorous certification that would recognize their concrete efforts to quantify and reduce their emissions. The Carbon Care® certification will allow them to stand out from the competition and gain the trust of a varied clientele by demonstrating their compliance with a rigorous process backed by the highest GHG quantification and auditing standards. The requirements of our certification will lend it a great degree of credibility.”
Carbon Care® certification offers two levels of recognition: basic and carbon-neutral. The basic recognition attests that the organization has carried out an inventory of its GHG emissions in compliance with ISO standard 14064-1 and that it has provided tangible proof of initiatives undertaken to reduce GHG emissions. The second level of certification, the carbon-neutral recognition, is awarded to organizations that have, additionally, offset all direct and indirect energy GHGs quantified in their inventory. The offset can be achieved through credits certified to recognized standards or by purchasing GHG emissions reductions from a project documented in compliance with ISO standard 14064-2 and audited by an organization accredited by the SCC.
“This certification is, without a doubt, a key element in the recognition of businesses’ and institutions’ efforts to proactively manage their GHG emissions. This can only encourage all Quebec and Canadian companies to follow suit in response to the growing trend among citizen-consumers to support organizations taking steps to reduce their ecological footprint,” adds Laporte.
Mr André Longpré, National Bank of Canada and Mrs Manon Laporte, CEO of Enviro-access
National Bank receives first Carbon Care® certification
Enviro-access is also proud to award the very first Carbon Care® certification to National Bank, which earned the carbon-neutral recognition. National Bank’s Building Engineering and Sustainable Development Manager, André Longpré, declares: “The Bank has been working hard at reducing emissions for five years. A first GHG inventory painted a detailed picture of our emissions and allowed us to target our emissions reduction actions. Ten concrete measures have since been implemented, and we chose to compensate our residual emissions by buying carbon offsets from Sobeys Quebec. This carbon-neutral certification is a gratifying recognition of our efforts to responsibly manage our GHGs. We are very proud to have succeeded in meeting all requirements. It is a testament to the thoroughness of our approach and to National Bank’s desire to contribute to environmental protection.”
The Carbon Care® certification is aimed at private companies as well as financial institutions, academic institutions, and other public organizations.
Press releases
National Bank of Canada (February 21, 2013)- National Bank awarded first Carbon Care(TM) certification
CNW (February 14,2013) – Enviro-access launches new Carbon Care(TM) certification
Sherbrooke Innopole (February 23, 2013) – Enviro-access introduces Carbon Care(TM) certification
Bloomberg (February 14, 2013) – Enviro-access launches new Carbon Care(TM) certification