Land Rover's CO2 offset programme committed to environmental sustainability

The CO2 offset programme, is the most comprehensive programme of its kind undertaken by an automotive manufacturer, and enables both the company and its customers to take positive steps to balance CO2 emissions and address climate change. Comprising two elements; the programme offsets all of the CO2 emissions generated during manufacturing operations in the UK and the first 72,000 km of customer use on all vehicles in the GCC and Levant - Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover LR3, Land Rover LR2 and Defender.

Commenting on these figures, Robin Colgan, Managing Director, Land Rover Middle East and North Africa, said:

"These figures are a testament to Land Rover's commitment to sustainability and an important step in reducing our impact on the environment. We look forward to taking this ahead with our 2010 models which are more efficient than their predecessors delivering lesser carbon emissions and produced using sustainable manufacturing."

Since the launch to-date, customer use in the Middle East has been offset and utilized across Land Rover supported emissions reduction projects globally; such as a wind farm in China, a hydro-electric generator in Tajikistan, and efficient cooking stoves in Uganda.

CO2 offsetting enables an immediate and significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions while Land Rover continues to develop new technologies that will dramatically reduce CO2 and other emissions from their vehicles. Climate Care, an internationally respected CO2 offset provider, is managing the Land Rover scheme in the Gulf and Levant, as it has been doing in the UK since the programme was launched in 2006; globally more than 2 million tonnes of CO2 will be offset as part of the Land Rover CO2 programme.

Land Rover has cut emissions with each successive model and has jointly committed to investing £800m in developing sustainable technologies. It is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and the CO2 offset programme is one part of an integrated approach. It is committing efforts in four key areas: Sustainable Manufacturing, e-Terrain Technologies, Conservation and Humanitarian Projects and CO2 Offsetting.

The Gulf and Levant were one of the first regions outside the UK & Europe to implement the programme last year.