On the eve of its second anniversary, the Mercure Meetings Carbon Neutral Conference program has offset more than 3,821 tonnes of carbon emissions, equating to the carbon used to drive 18,038,942 kms - enough to drive 1,127 times around Australia or 47 trips to the moon (if you could drive there).

To put this into perspective, if the average car travels 10,000 kilometres a year, it means that Mercure has effectively taken 1,803 cars off the road through this initiative over the past two years.

Mercure Meetings has committed to offsetting - at a cost to Mercure, not the conference organiser - the impact of every conference held in its hotels. Since introducing the program two years ago, Mercure hotels have hosted conferences for a number of high-profile groups such as the Environmental Protection Authority, the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Department of Climate Change, as well as a host of environmentally sensitive companies, with the promise of carbon neutrality being a deciding factor.

Mercure works closely with the Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) to calculate and offset greenhouse gas emission sources such as a travel and accommodation and provides full services to guests without impacting the environment.

Robert Cawthorne from the CRI congratulated Mercure for taking positive steps to protect the environment and said the program has already made a major difference.

"We applaud Mercure Hotels for their contribution to reducing the impact of carbon emissions in Australia and encourage companies to use such environmentally aware hotels when they are planning their conferences," he said. "Everyone must play their part in reducing their impact on the environment and the fact that Mercure pays for the program themselves instead of adding it as a cost to the consumer shows their real commitment to the environment."

There are 27 Mercure Hotels across Australia in city and regional locations.