The Aquarium of the Pacific has successfully certified its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory with the California Climate Action Registry to become the first museum in the United States to earn the status of a Climate Action Leader™. By joining the Registry, the Aquarium of the Pacific demonstrates their concern regarding global climate change by measuring, certifying, and voluntarily reporting their GHG emissions to the Registry and to the public. In addition to participating in the Registry’s rigorous program, the Aquarium has developed a range of measures from the use of dual-flush toilets to the development of environmentally friendly design and construction projects in an effort to increase energy efficiency, reduce GHG, and demonstrate leadership in sustainability. The Aquarium’s certified GHG emission report for 2006 is now available through the Registry’s website at www.climateregistry.org/CARROT/Public/.
Located in Long Beach, California, the Aquarium of the Pacific is Southern California’s largest aquarium and the fifth largest in the nation. The Aquarium, a non-profit institution, celebrates the planet’s largest and most diverse body of water: the Pacific Ocean. Home to more than 12,500 animals, the Aquarium explores the waters of Southern California and Baja and the Northern and Tropical Pacific. “The ocean touches all of our lives everyday. It is important to us to track how our mission is affecting the ocean. Certifying our data with the Registry is a very concrete way to accomplish this,” said Dr. Jerry R. Schubel, Aquarium of the Pacific President and CEO.
The Registry, created by the California legislature in 2000, is a non-profit public/private partnership that helps companies and organizations throughout the United States to track, publicly report and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The results are certified by independent third-parties to ensure compliance with Registry protocols and standardization across participants and sectors. Organizations that are willing to meet the accounting standards and third party certification requirements of the Registry show their serious intent to address climate change. The Registry has been widely recognized as one of the world’s most respected programs for voluntary public reporting of greenhouse gases.
“The Aquarium of the Pacific has shown tremendous leadership to be the first museum to certify and publicly report their GHG emissions. The Aquarium recognizes the importance of verified emissions data,” said Diane Wittenberg, President of the California Climate Action Registry.
