Land Rover's CO2 offset program gets independent oversight group

Land Rover's carbon offset program introduced last summer will soon get the once-over from a group of "independent" overseers. The group is officially called The Land Rover CO2 Offset Programme Board of Governance. I put independent there in quotes because this group is being organized by Land Rover, even though I have no reason to think they will be hampered in their work. So, for now, they're "independent."
And who are these fine folks? You can read detailed biographies (provided by Land Rover) after the jump, but the short info is as follows:
  • Sir Crispin Tickell, former government adviser and diplomat
  • Professor Diana Liverman, director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford
  • Dr Sally Uren, the director of the Business Programme at the sustainable development charity, Forum For The Future
  • Alan Knight, government adviser and former director of environment policy at B&Q
Other individuals are expected to join in the future. The board's first meeting is Feb. 12, and then every four months. The board's responsibility is to "use its expertise to ensure due diligence is exercised throughout the offset process to make certain it is accountable, efficient and transparent."

Land Rover says its ultimate goal is carbon neutrality. The company is doing this through models with lower emissions, CO2 reductions at manufacturing plants and investing in renewable energy projects

Related:
[Source: Land Rover]

Biographies

Sir Crispin Tickell

Sir Crispin Tickell was Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission (1977-1980), British Ambassador to Mexico (1981-1983), Permanent Secretary of the Official Development Assistance (now Department for International Development) (1984-1987), and British Ambassador to the United Nations and Permanent Representative on the UN Security Council (1987-1990), adviser on environmental issues to three successive British prime ministers as well as Convenor of the British Government Panel on Sustainable Development. Tickell was one of the first people to call attention to the hazards of global warming. Author of "Climate Change and World Affairs", he is also in the unique position of understanding both science and public policy.

Professor Diana Liverman

Currently, director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford, Professor Liverman was previously Associate Director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University. She has also served as chair of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, and as a member of advisory committees for NASA, NOAA and the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. She is a member of editorial boards of the Annual Review of Environment and Resources and of Climatic Change.

Dr Sally Uren

Sally joined Forum's Business Programme in 2002. Since then she's been working with business partners across all sectors to get to grips with sustainability, has overseen and contributed to a wide range of research projects – all designed to unlock the links between sustainable development and successful business – and has presented at both national and international conferences. Prior to joining the Forum, Sally founded and directed the Sustainability Group at private consultancy Casella Stanger (now owned by Bureau Veritas).

Dr Alan Knight OBE

Alan Knight has 15 years experience of understanding the impact and opportunities CSR and sustainable development provide to global retail and is the SDC's Commissioner on Sustainable Consumption.
He is the founder of "Single Planet Living" Limited, a company that offers coaching and presentations on SD in retailer and commerce.

From 1990 to 2000 he served as Head of Sustainable Development at B&Q, the UK's market leader in home improvement and part of the Kingfisher Group. He co-chaired the UK Government's Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and serves on the UK Sustainable Development Commission and was for 6 years chair of the Government's Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment (ACCPE). He chairs DEFRA's Ethical Trading Champions group and DTI's Retail Innovation and Sustainability group. He sits on the technical advisory group for Duchy Originals, is an Ambassador to WWF UK and is a former director of both the Tropical Forest Trust and the Forest Stewardship Council.

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