The Federation of Independent Agents (FIA) is aiming to become the first agency network to become carbon neutral.

Graham Lock, founder of the FIA, has announced that his network has joined forces with Carbon Neutral Great Britain and Temwa Carbon Balance to offer its members a subsidised route to carbon neutrality.

“I’m pleased to announce these partnerships that provide our members with a great foundation to offset their carbon emissions. The FIA is on its way to becoming the first carbon neutral estate agency network which I’m extremely proud of,” said Lock.

Carbon Neutral Great Britain and Temwa Carbon Balance both offer routes to carbon neutrality by assessing the impact of each estate agents predicted energy usage over the course of 12 months.

The offset cost is calculated based on these results and in the real-world this means the agency has a commitment to plant a set number of trees to compensate accordingly and given guidelines as to how they can lower their emissions in their everyday business practices.

James Poynter, director of business development for Carbon Neutral Great Britain, said: “We’re delighted to partner with the Federation of Independent Agents and its members, to help identify and offset their environmental impact for 2022 and beyond.

“Carbon Neutrality is a proactive approach to environmental action – by measuring (to help you monitor and reduce your footprint), but most of important of all – offsetting your environmental impact to make a difference to the climate crisis now.

“PCC studies [and COP 26 discussions last year] have highlighted the importance of businesses making a difference in the next 5 years before changes to the climate are irreversible, and by becoming Carbon Neutral, FIA and its members are doing their part for the planet now – when it is the most important.”

Andrew Dickinson, owner of FIA member, Oakwood Homes, has setup his multi-branch network already to meet its carbon neutral goals.

He commented: “We have always be conscious of how the world around us has been changing and in many ways for the worse. As a responsible business owner I felt it incumbent on us to make sure we could do everything possible to help in whatever way we could.

“Our incredibly talented, busy and mindful team were 100% behind our decision to get carbon neutral status and are continuing by taking daily measures to recycle, reduce waste, improve our use of energy and generally show personal responsibility in all they do – and more importantly have enjoyed the process.

“Our view was simple – nothing will change unless we do, so we made a start.

“As a business we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved and hope that more businesses will follow our journey to collectively make a difference both now and for the future generations.”