UQP has become ‘carbon positive’
We are excited to announce that UQP has become ‘carbon positive’ this year, through making operational changes to reduce carbon emissions and offsetting the carbon it produces directly.
‘We purchased more than the required offsets so that we are carbon positive rather than carbon neutral,’ says UQP director, Ben James. UQP’s carbon budget, upon which the status is based, includes emissions from UQP’s direct operations, including its own online bookstore, but that further indirect emissions ‘are not within our power to change and require industry-wide collaboration’.
‘We have focused on what’s in our direct responsibility and scope. The UQP Sustainability Team continues to investigate ways to reduce our environmental impact, and will do so in the years ahead.’
UQP consulted with Pangolin Associates, with financial assistance from Creative Australia, to measure our emissions, obtain independent verification and offset its 2023 emissions, with verification performed by GPP Audit under Climate Active standards.
‘The 2023 offsetting schemes we used are accredited under the Gold Standard Schemes and Verra Schemes. They are all linked to UN [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)] and follow through our commitments when signing the UN SDG Publishers Compact in 2021,’ says James.
The Verra offsets relate to the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve in Borneo, while the Gold Standard offsets relate to two projects: energy efficiency through community cook stoves in Uganda and a wind farm in Andhra Pradesh, India.
For information on carbon emissions related to the book industry in Australia, see Angela Meyer’s reports for Books+Publishing: ‘Sustainability and the Australian book industry: a snapshot’. In part one, Meyer interviewed publishers about their efforts to reduce emissions; in part two, she explored sustainability efforts in the broader supply chain, including printing and paper; and in part three, she discussed sustainability with booksellers, including an examination of issues such as stock control, data and promotion. Meyer also authored a sustainability paper for BookPeople.
