Gaydon, England – Land Rover has confirmed the extension of its CO2 offset initiative to the company’s fast-growing Middle East market; the program will balance emissions from the first 72,000 km of customer use on vehicles sold in the Gulf and Levant region, and the CO2 generated by the company’s manufacturing operations in the U.K.

The Middle East extension announcement follows news that France will also participate in the program next year. Other participants include The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Austria, with a number of other international markets due to sign up later in the year. The program is part of the company’s £700 million joint investment in sustainable technologies.

The latest offset project will make energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps the preferred lighting product in over 330,000 homes in Mauritius, an island nation off the coast of Africa, through funding from the automaker that will subsidize the costlier lamps to the price of less-efficient incandescent bulbs.

“At Land Rover, we are determined to ensure sustainability is integral to our business,” said Phil Popham, Land Rover manging director. “Despite a tough economic climate, it is important that Land Rover carries on showing strong leadership in this area to secure a sustainable future for our business. While we work to reduce our impacts through the development of new technologies, we continue to be proud of our CO2 offset projects we run with Climate Care that positively and profoundly affect both infrastructure and behaviour in many countries around the world. In 2009 we shall bring more of our markets into the program.”