LONDON, July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

BP's Target Neutral London 2012 programme has now reached over 200,000 sign ups. With sign-ups increasing daily, ticketholders, athletes and Olympic Partners are getting behind London 2012's ambition to lower the carbon footprint of the Games.

BP Target Neutral is offering to offset the carbon footprint of all ticketed spectator journeys to and from the Olympic and Paralympic Games for free. It's simple and easy to do - ticketholders just need to visit the BP Target Neutral website http://www.bptargetneutral.com/London2012 or sign up through the Facebook app http://on.fb.me/BPtargetneutral to have the carbon emissions of their travel to London offset for free.

Team GB, ParalympicsGB and a number of Olympic Committees around the world have already offset their carbon footprint to the Games. Turkey has signed up to BP's Target Neutral London 2012 programme, and BP is also working with Team USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Azerbaijan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Angola and Georgia.

As a leading 'not for profit' provider of services to reduce, replace or neutralise carbon emissions from transport, BP is working with the Games organisers and other London 2012 partners on how Target Neutral can help offset the carbon footprint of the Games. BP Target Neutral has offset travel emissions of the 70,000 volunteers for London 2012 and is delighted to be working with a number of partners including Samsung, Dow, Sainsbury's, Freshfields, General Electric and Heineken.

ANDREA ABRAHAMS, GLOBAL DIRECTOR FOR TARGET NEUTRAL said: "We believe this mass offset opportunity will raise awareness about the challenge we all face in living more sustainably and will engage people who might never before have thought about the carbon impact of their travel choices. Through collective action, individual and companies can work together to make a real difference to the environment and we hope this will prove to be a legacy for future events."

BP is working with six inspiring athlete ambassadors (Jessica Ennis, Lizzie Armitstead, William Sharman and Paralympic athletes Richard Whitehead, Shelly Woods, Stefanie Reid) on their journey to the Games, showing them how to make changes in their everyday lives as well as the fuel to get around whilst training and offsetting their carbon emissions from driving.

There are opportunities for spectators to learn about Target Neutral and sign-up to offset their carbon in the Olympic Park at BP's interactive showcase "Walk in the Olympic Park".  Furthermore, athletes from around the world can sign-up to offset their carbon at the Athlete's Village Target Neutral Pod.

SEB COE, CHAIR OF LOCOG said: "Sustainability underpins all of our plans - and has done since the bid. BP's Target Neutral scheme is a fantastic opportunity for millions to offset their carbon footprint and help London 2012 to inspire positive social, economic and environmental change for the future."

As the London 2012 official Carbon Offset Partner, BP Target Neutral will be providing the administration and funds to offset the carbon emissions from Games-related travel of ticketholders.  The more people that sign up, the more Target Neutral can support low carbon development projects worldwide.  

All carbon emissions will be offset from a portfolio of six carbon offset projects that have been chosen to represent each continental region participating in the Games. These projects have been carefully selected and are compliant with ICROA Code of Best Practice.

Ticketholders should visit http://www.bptargetneutral.com/london2012 or Facebook page http://on.fb.me/BPtargetneutral  to have the carbon emissions of their travel to London offset for free.

EDITORS NOTES

1. ABOUT BP TARGET NEUTRAL

Target Neutral was set up in 2006 as part of BP's broader commitment to practical sustainability. It is a not-for-profit carbon management program, which encourages consumers to reduce, replace and neutralise their carbon emissions from transport.  BP covers Target Neutral's operating costs ensuring that all the money paid to offset is used to support genuine carbon offset projects that also have positive local environmental and socio-economic benefits.

BP Target Neutral is a founding member of ICROA, the International Carbon Reduction and Offsetting Alliance which has recently merged with IETA, the International Emissions Trading Association.  

For more information please visit http://www.targetneutral.com

2. ABOUT THE LONDON 2012 OFFSET    

Whether travelling by planes, cars or public transport to London 2012, spectators will be able to offset their carbon emissions free of charge by simply registering their journey on the Target Neutral website or via the Facebook page.

Spectators heading to the Games from across the world will be asked to confirm where they are travelling from and their CO₂ emissions will then be calculated to be offset by BP.

BP Target Neutral is also offering to offset the travel carbon footprint of accredited media travelling to the London 2012 Olympic Games.  This includes international media representatives.

The travel footprint estimate is based on LOCOG's foot printing study of March 2010. A full methodology statement used to calculate journey emissions on a per country basis was developed for BP Target Neutral by Environmental Resource Management (ERM), is available from http://www.bptargetneutral.com/london2012.  

Ernst & Young has reviewed the Target Neutral London 2012 spectator programme in order to provide an objective assessment of BP's description of the assumptions, method and reporting principles used within ERM's methodology.

SOURCE BP Target Neutral