As the world is facing an unprecedented climate and nature crisis, the World Wild Fund (WWF) in partnership with Velux Group is implementing projects aimed at stopping the degradation of the planet’s natural environment so as to promote biodiversity.
The new 21-year deal with WWF aims to help roof window specialist offset 100 years of carbon emissions through global reforestation and afforestation projects.
WWF Country Director, David Duli, says the partnership will focus on restoring Uganda’s biodiversity like degraded forests, growing new forests, and protecting the remaining natural forests through a broad range of measures.
“The project will also grow trees in woodlots, other agroforestry systems, and plantations outside protected areas to meet the demand for various forest products and reduce pressure on natural forests,”,” David said.
The Velux Group will work with WWF to become Lifetime Carbon Neutral by investing in forest and biodiversity projects over the next 21 years.
“This will help halt habitat loss, deforestation and land degradation threatening the biodiversity of forest ecosystems in Uganda and the world at large while working with and benefiting local communities,” David said.
Velux will be supporting conservation projects in Western Uganda among other countries aimed at dramatically cutting the carbon emissions of its company and value chain in line with the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious 1.5°C reduction pathway.
Under this partnership, Velux Group has promised to become a ‘lifetime carbon neutral’ firm by 2041, a commitment that will see it work with WWF to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it has emitted through operations and power since its founding in 1941.
David Briggs, CEO of the Velux Group said; “According to our values as a company, we strive to do more than most, so that’s why we have developed Lifetime Carbon Neutral. We will also dramatically reduce our future CO2 emissions and ask our suppliers to do the same. Hopefully, other companies will be inspired to become ‘Lifetime Carbon Neutral’ in order to create a sustainable future for all.”
Velux joins a small but growing number of companies that have committed to achieving carbon reductions that go beyond net-zero emissions over the decades to come.
The trend was sparked earlier this year by Microsoft, which in January pledged to become ‘net negative’ by 2030 and to capture as much carbon dioxide from the air by mid-century as it has emitted since in its foundation in 1975.
According to WWF’s head of communications, Rita Kyategeka, almost all businesses rely on nature – not just for resources such as meat, fish, timber, and fibre but also for services like crops pollination and clean water, as well as healthy customers and workforces.
“It’s for that reason that WWF under the Business for Nature initiative is rallying Businesses to not only take action for nature but also influence nature biased decisions and transform the global economy,” Kyategeka said.
With the impacts of the climate and nature crisis becoming increasingly clear, ambition and action are urgently needed to build a more resilient and sustainable future for all.
Nature already captures 50% of global carbon emissions. Natural-based solutions for climate, such as forests, grasslands, coral reefs, mangroves, and wetlands, have enormous potential for storing carbon and removing it from the atmosphere.