NCCSL becomes country’s first Green Chamber

The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) was recently awarded the Certificate for Carbon Neutral by becoming the first ‘green Chamber’ in the country to offset it’s carbon footprint.  

“In today’s business context the role of Sustainability has risen to a pre-eminent position,” said NCCSL President Asoka Hettigoda adding, “Companies across the globe are now taking cognisance of the fact that corporates have an undeniable role in helping mitigate climate change and carbon pollution.

The world’s leading brands and corporates have declared outright their intention to cut their carbon footprint to demonstrate their commitment towards a sustainable modality of business. Our vision is to help the local business enterprises compete better in markets across the globe. Hence we are leading by example in becoming the country’s first Chamber to be certified as Carbon Neutral. We want to show our members that Sri Lankan companies can be on the forefront of the world trends.”

Expanding further on the subject, he said, “Cutting our carbon footprint means that the NCCSL has calculated our entire carbon emissions and reduced them to net zero through a process of offsetting.  

To carry out this process we have retained the services of The Carbon Consulting Company, who have been able to carry out this calculation according to the internationally accepted norms.”

The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) which helped NCCSL in its certification process has been created with the purpose of helping organisations reduce their environmental impact and maximise the CSR and marketing opportunities arising from these efforts.

The CCC’s mission is to help corporate leaders and decision makers develop the skill sets and knowledge base that would be required for survival in the dawning era of a low carbon economy.

The CCC is a Carbon Footprint certified company, and is accredited by the Carbon Trust, the UK Government’s carbon standards body. It is also an official certifier of the Carbon Neutral Company of the UK. 

“The calculation of the carbon footprint for the NCCSL was carried out in accordance with international standards,” says CCC Director Subramaniam Eassuwaren.

An organisational greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) assessment quantifies the total greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly from a business organisation’s activities. Also known as a Carbon Footprint, it is an essential tool, for understanding and managing its climate change impacts. GHG assessments are carried in accordance to the internationally recognised standards for accounting and reporting corporate greenhouse gas emissions.

The best known and most widely accepted is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol) developed in a partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Resources Institute.

This standard provides guidelines regarding organisational and operational boundaries, quantification and standard reporting practices. An emissions inventory is an essential first step in assessing your carbon footprint.  This involves deciding what needs to be measured, how to measure it and how to manage the data. Measurement enables an organisation to access their risks and opportunities, follow their progress and create a strategy to reduce emissions by quantifiable amounts.