Wesfarmers Insurance is claiming a local industry “first” by making its businesses carbon-neutral.

Communications Manager Robert Swinton told insuranceNEWS.com.au the company has been measuring its carbon footprint for some years through the Wesfarmers Limited Sustainability Reporting.

“We have then looked at where we’re producing the emissions to manage those as best we can in terms of energy efficiency, and then offset the things we can’t manage,” he said.

“We’ve done an energy efficiency audit in some of our bigger building locations. We also purchase energy-efficient IT equipment.”

The carbon-neutral status will now automatically apply to all business undertaken by Lumley Insurance, Wesfarmers Federation Insurance and OAMPS Insurance Brokers.

Wesfarmers Insurance MD Rob Scott says climate change is one of the biggest issues to face the industry worldwide. “We want to contribute in a real way to the issue of climate change,” he said.