Climate change is a major environmental challenge and potential risk to our business so reducing greenhouse gas emissions through efficient consumption of raw materials and energy resources is something we take seriously and are working hard to achieve.

Greenhouse gases are a natural part of the atmosphere. They trap the sun's warmth and maintain the earth's surface temperature at a level necessary to support life. The problem we face is that human actions - particularly the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and land clearing - are increasing the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere, creating the prospect of global climate change.

All countries, corporations and communities have a responsibility to take action to reduce greenhouse emissions. We accept our share of this responsibility and have made reduction of greenhouse gas emissions one of our highest environmental priorities.

All our major Australian breweries have actively supported and participated in the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Challenge Program since 1996. Under the program, our technological improvements and initiatives to reduce energy and waste have led to an estimated reduction of over 50,000 tonnes of emissions per year, or around 18% of our 1996 emissions. Our achievements have been dramatic and our efforts have been rewarded with eight Australian Greenhouse Challenge Awards since 2000.

In March 2007, Lion Nathan Australia was officially recognised as a Greenhouse Challenge Plus Leader. Becoming a Greenhouse Challenge Plus leader is about taking extra steps to lower greenhouse gas emissions and developing long-term goals for reducing these emissions. Lion Nathan is only the second company to achieve Leadership status in the Programme.

For more information, visit our Sustainability Report or our Greenhouse Case Studies.