Rally Norway delivers environmental challenge to challengers

Rally teams can be carbon neutral in Norway, or even for the entire 2009 Rally Championship.

The organisers of Rally Norway are setting the environmental pace by aiming at an emission-neutral rally and they are challenging competitors and other organisers of the 2009 Rally Championship to join them. Every competing team has been sent a letter explaining this environmental ambition, complete with a Climate Reporting form and details of how to purchase emission credits sanctioned by the United Nations (UN). If all teams opt in, the Norwegian Rally will have the opportunity to be the first ever to be completely climate neutral. The calculation includes fuel used by competing vehicles, in logistic support, and in travel to the rally by air and by road.

“Rally Norway AS wants to be an eco-advocate,” declares Even Wiger, Rally Norway General Manager. “Critics could accuse rally sport of being an environmental delinquent, but we have a high level of environmental awareness. We want environmental respect and motor sport to go hand in hand and demonstrate this by ensuring that the 2009 event causes the least possible harm to the environment.

“Our first initiative was in 2006 when Rally Norway AS got its environmetal certification. We also started to buy emission credits to compensate for the CO₂ emissions produced during the event. And Rally Norway was likely to be the first WRC event called, carbon neutral. This year we want to take an important step further, developing a carbon footprint analysis of our total emissions and buying emission credits to fully compensate.”

The emission credits are issued by the UN and called CER (Certified Emission Reduction). They are a Kyoto Protocol mechanism to combat global warming, called the Clean Development Mechanism and goes far beyond other environmental initiatives in the rally sports world. A CER is an official emission credit. When a CER is issued, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions has already taken place. The funds raised then support sustainable growth in developing countries.

Rally Norway invited every participating team to calculate its carbon footprint and compensate for the CO₂ emissions related to a) Rally Norway 2009 or b) the whole World Rally Championship 2009. The scheme is run together with CO2focus, the leading Nordic company on the subject (www.co2focus.com). This appeal follows a number of other environmental initiatives taken by Rally Norway and which has been welcomed by environmentalist and the society at large. It has also caused encouraging support and statements by the Norwegian government and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

More information:

General Manager Rally Norway: Even Wiger, tel.: +47  913 13 645,

Letter from Rally Norway to all competitors
Data collection form
Climate neutrality explanation

Published: 2009-01-20 09:02