Fleetwise - positively neutral

CREDIBILITY in environmental sustainability will become increasingly important to business, says a director of a Palmerston North firm that has won a highest-level recognition for commitment to green awareness.

"Ultimately, businesses will be have to be environmentally sustainable in order to be financially sustainable. It's a question of credibility in the marketplace," says Simon Taylor of Manawatu-owned Fleetwise, which has become the country's first fleet management business to win CarboNZero certification.

Certified by Landcare Research, the CarboNZero programme is an internationally recognised scheme for organisations wishing to demonstrate climate change action with the highest integrity.

Participants must measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions, and offset remaining emissions by purchasing carbon credits to fund native forest regeneration and renewable energy projects.

Certification is a significant achievement for Fleetwise, New Zealand's leading provider of independent and impartial vehicle fleet management advisory and consultancy services.

The process took a full year, starting last June, and required independent audit.

The company was required to measure, manage, reduce and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions arising from its business activities.

Nothing was excluded. Details of fuel consumption, air and land travel
- including taxi rides - and the amount of waste going into landfills; all were assiduously considered.

Fleetwise has also purchased carbon credits that have been created in New Zealand through sustainable energy initiatives, including the wind farms that dominate the Manawatu landscape.

Mr Taylor said achieving CarboNZero status has been a huge positive, not just for a proudly Manawatu company but also for its clients.

"We feel that this is of significant value to our customers, too. The efficiencies we can pass on are no-cost, money-saving benefits."

He pointed out the programme is underpinned by extensive scientific research and procedures for handling and cancelling carbon credits, to the highest international standards. It is based on over a decade of research in greenhouse gas measurement and carbon monitoring.

Fleetwise partners with national and local government, health care providers and corporate sectors. One major local customer is MidCentral Health.

Formed in 1995, it has grown to become the a major player in its field, largely through development of "fit for purpose" fleet management solutions.

Systems designed to achieve the company's primary role of assisting in the acquisition, maintaining and disposal of medium to large fleets provided a solid basis for the achieving certification, Mr Taylor said.

"That is not to say there were not challenges. It was not easy to gain certification, and we would expect nothing less. But we feel we were off to a great start."

The company's credo 'transport intelligence' meant it sought to achieve early identification of emerging trends. Emissions and fuel efficiency seen some time ago as significant motoring issues, and climate change and sustainability were obviously important to everyone. People desired to live more environmentally conscious lifestyles.

"Some people might still be sceptical of these issues, but we believe that they should not, and cannot, be ignored or side-stepped. The ideals of CarboNZero, to manage and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, are ideals we share and act upon in our business."

A higher level of green discipline demanded action, not simply words.

"There is still a trend within global business toward 'greenwash'.

"This means some organisations will pay lip service to sustainability and climate change without having actually effected any actual change to the manner in which they operate," Mr Taylor said.

"I think organisations or businesses that 'greenwash' without undertaking actual change will eventually be called to account.

"It is clear to us, as it should be to them, that climate change and sustainability are issues of real relevance, that must be addressed."

Businesses could make substantial cost savings through more efficient practices. For Fleetwise, the measurement and monitoring of a client's carbon footprint was an integral component in the overall dynamic of running an efficient fleet.

"This process has necessitated a change in thinking and the only way to do this is to put in the hard yards, as we have."

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