In August, 2008 the program was introduced to market from increased demand for businesses that want to start addressing climate change and sustainability in a cost-effective way. EarthCheck Assessed has all of the calculation across energy, water and waste however does not included third party certification. It is however a valid way for restaurants and other organisations to measure, manage and reduce their environmental impact, with the cost savings involved in smart recycling, energy efficiency, management practices and policies. EarthCheck Assessed is focused on integrating these cost savings, with an online delivered cost-effective tool. Like the EarthCheck program from which it originates, EarthCheck Assessed was developed in conjunction with the Sustainable Tourism CRC. The "Lite" program was enhanced in 2009 to meet the needs of the new carbon economy and re-branded as EarthCheck Assessed
Programme foundations
EarthCheck Assessed is based upon the EarthCheck Certified program, however the key difference between EarthCheck Certification and EarthCheck Assessed is that EarthCheck Assessed is delivered solely online. Extra paperwork, onsite audits and other third party measures are not included, and as such this is a "lite" version of the EarthCheck Company Standard. The same set of tools are open to any participant of EarthCheck Assessed, they can measure, manage and use strategies, policies and practices to measure, manage and reduce their environmental impact, whilst reaping the benefit of operational cost savings. Similarly to EarthCheck Certification, EarthCheck Assessed is fundamentally based upon Agenda 21 Principles which was originally endorsed by 182 heads of state at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 and provided a set of principles for local, state, national and international action on sustainable development. This resulted in Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry: Towards Environmentally Sustainable Development, which listed an action plan for a number of overall objectives for the industry.
Aspects of the upgraded EarthCheck Assessed Program
EarthCheck Assessed is designed for businesses that want to start addressing Sustainability and Climate Change. The programme provides businesses with an online Health Check that assesses Key Environmental Performances Areas such as energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption and waste production. The program is fully compliant with current Australian Greenhouse Office Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions protocols and reporting standards including NGERS. It is also compliant with ISO14064, the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and adheres to the UNEP Guidelines for calculating GHG Emissions for business & non commercial organisations. EC3 Global's research team works closely with the United Nations Environmental Program working group under Professor Robert Pagan at the University of Queensland on maintaining continued local and international compliance.
