Indigenous Land Corporation gpo box 652 Adelaide sa 5001

Carbon footprint emissions measurement

A carbon footprint is a greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment which measures GHG emissions from the operations of a business or the lifecycle of a product. In reference to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 and the National Carbon Offset Standard, the ILC has identified and commenced monitoring emissions. These include:

• Solid, gaseous and liquid fuels

• Mobile combustion of liquid and gaseous fuels 
for transport

• Refrigerants and airconditioning

• Release of greenhouse gases through industrial processes or from storage and/or treatment 
of wastewater

• Electricity

• Flights and staff travel

• Disposal of waste

• Use of paper in the course of business

The ILC has been working to understand its emissions profile and intensity as:

• Measurement of emissions can be promoted as an indicator of the ILC’s corporate social responsibility

• It is required for planning to become carbon neutral, or for a component or business product of the ILC to seek carbon neutral certification

• Reducing emissions leads to fiscal benefit for the ILC (and measuring and reporting emissions usually leads to better management)

The ILC began establishing a baseline carbon footprint for the 2011–12 financial year, which is being continued with work under way on the 2012–13 and 2013–14 financial year footprints. The ILC activities considered to be relevant for reporting (in scope) include offices and business properties. The emissions associated with the main emissions-generating office activities (electricity purchase and staff travel) are reported in the section ‘Monitoring and reporting of environmental performance in ILC offices’ on page 101. During 2013–14, the focus was on clarifying and streamlining emissions reporting and data management systems so that information-gathering processes are consistent and better integrated with financial reporting. This process included a review of the work to date and necessitated revisiting some earlier reporting and calculation processes. It is anticipated that the 2014–15 annual report will present carbon footprint data derived from four financial years and further information about how this information is being used to identify increased efficiencies and offset opportunities.