MOTORSPORT: V8 Supercars get a smack from ACCC

Tree-planting carbon offsets long-term, ACCC reminds V8 Supercars Australia
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has gone public today on its carbon emissions issue with V8 Supercars Australia.

This is an issue we have touched on here and in here over the past couple of months.

In today's announcement the ACCC today has basically given V8 Supercars Australia a gentle slap on the wrist for suggesting that the planting of trees would immediately offset carbon emissions created from its racing and the transporting of its "circus" to the various rounds of the championship.

The ACCC has clarified that the offsets will only be over the life of the trees.

It said V8SE had acknowledged that its initial statements may have been misleading or deceptive and may have breached section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

It seemed to us on reading the announcement that it was very much a compromise between the ACCC and V8SE -- in effect, a soft public reprimand on one point without touching on what we would have thought was the very important point of the calculations of V8 Supercar's emissions not having included the transporting of its "show" in jet planes to and from rounds in Bahrain and New Zealand.

However, ACCC media director Lin Enright has told us that that was not a matter brought to the attention of the commission.

In any case, as we had already reported, V8SE had made some moves to correct its mistakes.

V8SE has now given the ACCC a court-enforceable undertaking -- one that won't be at all arduous for it to meet.

For the record, here is what the ACCC has said today:

"In 2007, V8 Supercars introduced its Racing Green Program. It announced that it would plant 10,000 native trees to fully offset the carbon emissions from the V8 Championship Series, including emissions from the races themselves, transport of the racing teams, air travel to the events and other activities," the ACCC said.

"The ACCC was concerned that the claim suggested or implied that the trees would quickly absorb the carbon emissions, when in fact it is likely that it would take several decades for the trees to absorb the emissions from one year's racing.

"If businesses want to make claims that planting trees will offset carbon emissions, they must explain that this will only occur over the full life of the trees," ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.

"Further, when seedlings are first planted the amount of carbon that they absorb is likely to be very small. It is not until the trees are fully grown that they can maximise carbon absorption.

"V8 Supercars acknowledged the ACCC's concerns that the claim that the emissions would be neutralised and completely offset by the tree planting may have been misleading or deceptive and therefore may have breached section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

"V8 Supercars has provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking that:
>> any future claims that it publishes about 'green marketing' will be first considered by a solicitor with experience in trade practices law to ensure that it complies with the Act
>> any future claims that it makes about trees being planted to offset carbon emissions will include an explanation about the time before those emissions will be offset, and
>> an acknowledgment of the ACCC's concerns and the undertaking will be placed on its
Racing Green pages of the V8 Supercars website.

"Mr Samuel said that the ACCC has been sufficiently concerned with aspects of green marketing that it has produced a booklet, Green Marketing and the Trade Practices Act, that is designed to educate businesses about making environmental claims, including a checklist for marketers.

"The booklet and other material can be found on the ACCC's website, accc.gov.au. While the ACCC supports businesses taking steps to reduce any negative effects on the environment, they do need to make sure that any representations that are made are correct and easily understood."

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