McLaren has announced it has become the first carbon-neutral Formula 1 team.
Last year, the team became the first Formula 1 team to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard, following a three-year audit in which the team measured improved its carbon efficiency. Thanks to a series of efficiency-driven measures within the McLaren Technology Centre, McLaren was able to achieve annual savings of more than 1,500 tons of CO2 emissions.
More recently, McLaren was recognized by the government's Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, which publishes a performance league table of more than 2,000 participating British businesses. The team ranked 92nd overall.
"I'm both delighted and proud that McLaren has become the world's first carbon-neutral Formula 1 team," said team boss Martin Whitmarsh. "It's a considerable achievement: the result of a lot of hard work by a number of extremely dedicated individuals within our organization, and a testament to our philosophy of continuous improvement within the workplace. McLaren was also the first Formula 1 team to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard for our efforts in improving carbon efficiency.
"Today's announcement is the strongest possible proof that we've gone farther than any other Formula 1 team in becoming more environmentally sympathetic and efficient – an achievement that's of great importance not only to our entire organization but also to all our partners, too."