How Fleet Card customers can do the right thing for the planet

The time is now for Australian businesses to step up and take action against the global climate crisis.  

From bushfires to floods and drought, the devastating impacts of climate change have been felt by the whole of Australia over the past two years. Businesses of all sizes have immense power to make a difference and safeguard our climate – if they choose to act.  

Customers are calling for businesses to take action too – according to research by Optus[1], 80% of Australians believe that businesses have a responsibility to address climate change and environmental issues.  

Fleets of vehicles pose a particular challenge for businesses that are determined to become carbon neutral and make a positive impact on climate change. They are necessary tools to run a business, yet every litre of diesel burned creates 2.7kg of carbon dioxide and every litre of petrol creates 2.4kg of CO21.  

Carbon offsetting is a way for businesses to account for those unavoidable carbon emissions and begin their journey to becoming carbon neutral.  

What is carbon offsetting? 

Carbon offsetting allows individuals and businesses to compensate for the carbon dioxide emissions that their actions release into the atmosphere by funding an equivalent amount of emissions savings elsewhere or preventing them from being released in the first place. 

How does carbon offsetting work? 

Carbon offsetting initiatives support carbon sequestration projects – such as tree planting – to remove carbon from the atmosphere. In other words, you can use carbon offsetting to reduce your emission impact.   

Carbon offsetting works alongside your carbon mitigation efforts. When choosing a carbon offsetting scheme it’s important to ensure that the provider uses approved scientific carbon measurements and undertakes regular independent audits to ensure that they are meeting their carbon sequestration commitments. 

Why plant trees?  

Forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle by soaking up lots of carbon dioxide that would otherwise live in the atmosphere. It’s estimated that over one year a mature tree will take up about 22 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The more trees that are planted and protected, the more carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere. 

The type of tree is also Important. Native forests provide additional benefits such as improving soil and water quality and restore habitats for native and endangered wildlife, such as koalas.   

How our partnership is already driving genuine change for the planet  

Climate change is top of mind for Business Fuel Cards, like it is for many of our customers. That’s why, since 2015, Business Fuel Cards has been supporting Greenfleet to offset our own carbon emissions by growing protected native forests, and we are proud to continue our partnership in 2023.   

Over the past seven years, we have contributed to the ecosystem restoration of almost 20 forest sites in New Zealand and Australia.   

One of these is a very special corner of rainforest in the Byron Bay hinterland. Located on Bundjalung Country, Anam Talamh is being revegetated by Greenfleet to restore critically endangered Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia, affectionately known as the “Big Scrub”.   

This subtropical climate is very effective in growing forests and capturing carbon, making it the perfect spot to fight the impacts of climate change. The project is also helping to provide vital habitat for koalas, the Wompoo Fruit Dove and other native wildlife in the region. You can learn more about Anam Talamh and many more projects on the Greenfleet website.   

Introducing ecoDRIVE for Australian businesses 

FleetCard has launched its new ecoDRIVE program in Australia to make it easy for customers who wish to make a positive impact by contributing to genuine Australian carbon offsetting projects.   

Our ecoDRIVE program is brought to life in partnership with Greenfleet, a leading not-for-profit environmental organisation on a mission to protect our climate by restoring our forests.   

Greenfleet uses contributions to plant native biodiverse forests which reduce the impacts of climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere. These native forests are legally protected for 100 years, so we know that, together, we are making a difference for future generations.   

In 2021 alone, Greenfleet planted 20 biodiverse forests across 530 hectares with 208 different native species. Over their lifetime, these forests will capture 358,178 tonnes of CO2-e from the atmosphere – the equivalent of offsetting over 26,000 average Australian households. 

FleetCard customers who opt into ecoDRIVE will receive an e-certificate every year listing the number of trees that have been planted and the expected tonnes of CO2 that will be offset through the program.   

Start making a difference today – join ecoDRIVE