Having embarked on a process to assess its environmental impact, credit asset-based manager La Trobe Financial has now managed to achieve a carbon footprint milestone.
The manager has been able to achieve this result through investing in greenhouse gas emission absorbing or reduction projects that equalled the carbon producing activities in which it was involved throughout the year. These projects have been classified as high integrity gold standard projects by independent advisory organisation Carbon Neutral.
In working with Carbon Neutral to address this issue, La Trobe Financial incorporated information from the federal government, other governments across the world and academic resources and applied a methodology in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the World Resources Institute.
“We are very proud of the approval of our carbon-neutral footprint program. We recognise in today’s market that this is a key business metric. We have documented a formal carbon reduction plan so that we can meet future targets and go beyond simply offsetting our carbon emissions,” La Trobe Financial chief investment officer Chris Andrews said.
“In the current plan, we propose to implement multiple projects to ensure that we reach our business commitment to 100 per cent carbon zero by 2030. A commitment that we have pledged in our group ESG (environmental, social and governance) framework approved by our board.”
La Trobe Financial ESG and international partnerships director Caterina Nesci described the assessment result as a real achievement.
“We now have our carbon footprint benchmark and intend to reduce our footprint every year moving forward. Doing this is clearly in the interest of the company and important for the future of the planet,” Nesci said.
“We will be activating a number of projects over coming months, including reducing travel emissions, sustainable procurement practices, reducing waste and landfill, and aiming to become paperless, just to name a few. This will involve every aspect of the business and all staff are truly committed to playing their part in this important work.”
