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London 2012 Spectators Invited to Set New Carbon Offset World Record

Team GB Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls lead call for Britons to neutralise their travel carbon footprint to the games

In supporting the ambition for London 2012 to be the most sustainable Games possible, BP Target Neutral announced today that they are inviting London 2012 ticketholders, from across the world, to try and set a new world record for the most number of people offsetting their travel carbon to a single event.

In so doing, BP's not-for-profit Target Neutral carbon management scheme is seeking to create awareness of the environmental impact of all journeys and will invite ticketholders to sign up to have their travel carbon footprint offset at no cost to themselves.

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.

A personal invitation to participate will be emailed by The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to ticketholders on Monday, October 3, inviting them to take part in this unprecedented world record attempt.

Team GB hopeful & BP athlete ambassador William Sharman said "I am a huge advocate of Target Neutral - reducing and offsetting our own carbon footprint is one small step to helping save the planet that we all live on. If everyone does their bit the impact will be significant - and what better way to start than by offsetting your journey to the 2012 Olympic Games in London - if every one of the spectators signs up for BP's not-for-profit scheme in just a couple of clicks millions of people will be making a real difference".

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. "

Peter Mather, BP's Head of Country, UK, announcing the initiative, said "We want to encourage people to play their part in tackling the impact of their travel on our environment. Today's announcement supports Target Neutral's overriding ambition that, through collective action, individuals can work together to make a real difference to the environment as they seek to reduce their carbon footprint, and then offset what is left.

"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. We need every spectator to sign up, so London 2012 becomes the world's largest offset as measured by number of participants"

The British Olympic Association has taken up the challenge and all of Team GB will be reducing and offsetting their carbon, as they journey to the Team GB Preparation Camp at Loughborough and to the London 2012 Olympic athlete village.

In particular, some outstanding British Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls - Jessica Ennis, Lizzie Armitstead, Richard Whitehead, Shelly Woods, Stef Reid and William Sharman - are working hard to reduce their carbon footprint and sharing their experiences.

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 www.bptargetneutral.com/london2012 or Facebook page http://on.fb.me/BPtargetneutral to register their journey to the Olympics and be part of making London 2012 the most sustainable Games possible.

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