What Car? has today announced that it is the first car magazine to go climate neutral. The UK’s leading provider of car buying information has teamed up with Climate Care to offset all the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions it produces while assessing cars, by its office energy needs and even by its travel around the world attending global car launches.
Tom Morton, Managing Director, Climate Care said. ‘We are delighted to work with What Car? and help make their activities climate neutral. The automotive industry is central to our attempts to tackle climate change and for such key opinion shapers to take a leading role is a clear sign that the industry is starting to rise to the challenge."
The CO2 produced in putting What Car? together every month is now being countered by Climate Care’s programme, which includes fitting energy-efficient bulbs in Kazakhstan, providing efficient cooking stoves in Bangladesh and replanting forests in Uganda.
Steve Fowler, What Car? group editor, said: ‘What Car? has always promoted the responsible use of cars and we’re leading the way by offsetting our own carbon output – we’ll be encouraging our readers to follow suit. It doesn’t have to cost the earth, either – the owner of an average Ford Focus covering around 12,000 miles a year need only make an annual contribution of around £21 to offset the CO2 they produce when driving."
A recent What Car? survey revealed that 41% of motorists are prepared to pay a premium for cleaner cars.
Coinciding with What Car?’s partnership with Climate Care, it has produced the definitive Driver’s Guide to Going Green – a 64-page magazine free with the May 2006 issue of What Car?, offering thoroughly researched advice and information for car buyers and users on going green and saving cash.