Advent Global: A regional first in sustainability for local sports management company

Wednesday, 28 May 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

As concerns about global warming and climate change continue to rise, corporate environmental responsibility has become an important buzzword in the business world. Many companies, operating in various different industries globally, are firmly committed towards becoming greener business entities, and this recent accomplishment of an upcoming local SME was no small feat. Advent Global Management Ltd. put Sri Lanka in the limelight of global sustainability once again by becoming the first sports management company in Asia to be certified as CarbonNeutral.

Advent Global Management worked with The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) – Sri Lanka’s premier integrated sustainability solutions provider in getting this certification, and it was obtained through quantifying and offsetting the total amount of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emitted from various aspects of their operations for a period of 12 months. Once the company’s carbon footprint was measured in tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (tCO2e), Advent Global Management purchased an equivalent amount of internationally validated carbon credits from a registry owned by The CarbonNeutral Company of the UK – the foremost voluntary carbon offset provider in the world and a leading provider of carbon reduction solutions, who in turn certified the company as CarbonNeutral. The carbon credit mechanism works by investing the money a purchaser makes in a project that either removes, prevents or sequesters GHGs from the atmosphere. The purchaser is then provided with a certificate/permit representing the right to compensate (offset) an equivalent amount of emissions of an operational entity belonging to them as a ‘return on investment’ causing an overall reduction, albeit probably small, in global GHG emissions. Carbon offsetting has progressively gained appeal amongst many businesses that are green conscious, and are mindful of the damaging environmental effects of GHG emissions. Upon receiving the certification, Sajitha De Mel, CEO of Advent Global, said: “The vision of Advent Global Management is to become a global leader for quality and ethics in sports management. Our company emphasises on building bridges of friendship between countries, communities and people through sports and sporting events. The nurturing of world-class competitors and promoting high standards of professionalism and ethical conduct among sporting personalities, while ensuring that we don’t deviate from our company values of which environmental sustainability is at the forefront, is our prime objective. Advent Global Management takes delight in ensuring the protection of the environment and insists that any ecological impact must be replenished forthwith. I am thankful to CCC for guiding us towards becoming a more responsible corporate citizen.” Sanith De S. Wijeyeratne, CEO of CCC, said: “Climate change is one the most pressing issues the world is facing today. We are proud to have partnered with Advent Global in achieving another regional milestone, and we should all be grateful to companies like this who strive to make a real difference in combating this global crisis.” Advent Global is now looking at even more ways of “doing their bit for the planet” with initiatives such as partnering with Earth Hour Sri Lanka, forming an in-house Green Team to organise environment-related programs that will include tree planting, awareness building in local communities, watershed protection projects and rainforest conservation, in the near future.