Telecommunications software provider Emagine International has signed up to the Carbon Reduction Institute program to achieve a NoCO2 certification to offset or reduce its carbon emissions.

The program will see Emagine's carbon emissions offset or reduced to an equivalent level of 52 cars a year, or one car a week less on Australia's roads.

Under the program, a business certified as NoCO2 is carbon neutral and has accounted for, reduced and offset its total operational emissions as well as the carbon emissions embodied in the products it sells and uses.

Emagine is required to monitor its major emission sources and report these to the Carbon Reduction Institute every quarter.

This will enable Emagine International to participate in the Carbon Reduction Institute 'low-carbon economy' and supply carbon neutral or 'Pre Green' products. A business can offset its emissions through the purchase of carbon credits which are put into environmental initiatives via a number of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects run by Carbon Reduction Institute. Emagine CEO, David Peters, said to be in a position to effectively remove 52 large cars off Australia's roads per year demonstrates the company's commitment to becoming a more environmentally conscious organisation.

"It's imperative that as part of the burgeoning SMB sector in Australia, we lead the initiative in taking responsibility for our carbon emissions and start to make real environmental change," Peters said. "Undergoing the NoCO2 audit process highlights how much everyday business operations impact the environment.

"To know that as an SMB, Emagine produces the equivalent of 292 tonnes of CO2 each year was frankly shocking to me."

If each of the 840,000 SMBs in Australia were in the same boat as Emagine, the country could reduce CO2 emissions by 245M tonnes per annum, or remove the equivalent of 43,680,000 cars from the roads each year.

Carbon Reduction Institute environmental manager, Andrew Barson, said Emagine is committed to sustainable practices and will help raise awareness about climate change within its various stakeholder groups.

Further information about the NoCO2 scheme is available from the Web site www.noco2.com.au

Emagine helps companies such as Vodacom South Africa, and Telstra Australia, to automate their marketing processes to reduce churn and increase customer revenues.

One of the first IT companies in Australia to address climate change is systems integrator Renewtek.

Recognising that computer technology is a contributor to greenhouse emissions, Renewtek CEO Fergus Porter, said the industry has done very little to date to reduce the impact on the environment.

"We felt we should take the lead in doing something about it," Porter said.