On 26 February 2007, we announced that Meridian was New Zealand's first and only certified supplier of carbon neutral electricity.

Meridian was one of the first companies to achieve the carboNZero certification provided by LandCare Research. Certification is a rigorous process involving having our carbon accounts externally audited by Deloitte.

What does it mean?

For our customers, our certification gives confidence that the carbon footprint of the electricity we sell is zero, i.e. that it does not contribute to the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (For more on the benefits of carbon neutrality for our customers see the Products and Services section of this report).

For Meridian, achieving carboNZero certification is another tangible example of our long-held commitment to sustainability. The decision to seek to become a carbon neutral company was a natural evolution of that commitment. It is simply the right thing to do – for us, for our customers and for the environment.

The certification process

The certification process we undertook had three parts:

• Measure - calculating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from our business activities
• Manage - reducing those emissions as much as possible
• Mitigate - purchasing carbon credits to 'offset' any emissions we could not completely eliminate.

The certification applies to our core business – our electricity and the generating and retailing activities that support it. It does not yet include our subsidiaries. We are continuing to work in a staged process towards achieving carbon neutrality for our entire business.

For Meridian, being carbon neutral is not about following a trend. It's a fundamental part of the way we do business every day.

More information

For more information on Meridian's carbon neutral electricity and things you can do to reduce your own carbon footprint visit our website.