Interserve, the international support services and construction group, has achieved Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) certification for its carbon reporting.

Achievement of CEMARS certification verifies that Interserve is operating in compliance with ISO 14064-1:2006, and demonstrates the company's commitment to managing and reducing its operational emissions in the UK. CEMARS is the world’s first internationally accredited greenhouse gas certification scheme to ISO14065, and the only scheme able to provide certification to ISO14064-1 in the United Kingdom. Interserve was audited and assessed by Achilles, one of the world’s leading managers of supplier information.

As part of the process of achieving CEMARS certification Interserve has adopted the following set of group environmental targets:

•Energy used at Interserve UK fixed site locations: reduce carbon emissions (tonnes) per £million (UK) turnover by 2.5 per cent per annum

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•Fuel used in UK fleet and cars: reduce carbon emissions (tonnes) per £million turnover by 2.5 per cent per annum

•Water consumption at UK fixed site locations: reduce water consumption (cubic metres) per £million (UK) turnover by 2 per cent per annum

•Waste generated at UK fixed site locations: reduce waste generated (kg) per employee by 2 per cent per annum.

Commenting on achievement of the CEMARS certification, Simon Casalis de Pury, Interserve's Group Head of Safety, Health and Environmental Management, said: "This certification demonstrates the robustness of our understanding of the issues surrounding energy consumption, and means we are well placed to assist clients in reducing their own carbon footprint. The certification process has resulted in improvements in our data collection so that we can give clients more detailed information on supply chain carbon emissions and embedded carbon.

"We have monitored Interserve’s carbon emissions since 2004, and this is the next step in our process to demonstrate our competence and ability in the field of energy consumption. We have been contributing to the international Carbon Disclosure Project, and are participating in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme as per legislative requirements.

"The Government has recently announced that all businesses listed on the London Stock Exchange will have to report their carbon footprint from April 2013, making the UK the first country to mandate emissions reporting in annual reports. Here at Interserve we welcome this introduction of compulsory reporting as being a positive step, demonstrating the UK's leadership in reducing its impact on climate change. For Interserve, carbon reporting represents a commercial opportunity to drive operational and energy efficiencies."

(CD)