12 Months ago, as part of our Absolutely Sustainable strategy, we partnered with ecologi in an endeavour to build a climate-positive workforce and to start giving something back to the planet. We embarked upon this initiative appreciating that to reach our net zero target by 2030 we had to be in this for the long haul – no pun intended.
Ecologi is a well-respected organisation that offers individuals and businesses alike the ability to subscribe to climate change solutions. Our aim is for the projects funded by our subscription to mitigate the carbon footprint of all our colleagues, as well as contributing to the planting of trees around the world.
So just what has Absolutely Sustainable initiative achieved over the last 12 months?
In short, through our support of ecologi we have achieved over 900 tonnes of carbon reduction and helped to plant 12,000 plus trees.
In one project some 7,350 mangrove trees have been planted in Madagascar which is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. It is the world’s second-largest island country, after Indonesia, and the island of Madagascar itself is the fourth largest island in the world.
The country is considered a biodiversity hotspot, and over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. Not only are these mangrove forests crucial carbon sinks, but they also provide habitats for a wide range of marine species that live in the shallows and provide vital coastal protection from floods and storms.
In total, we are supporting 17 projects as well as the Madagascar project, which includes generating renewable solar electricity in Egypt, renewable wind energy in Bulgaria, and using waste biomass to produce electricity in Chile.
A number like 905.76 tonnes of CO2e sounds like a lot but is hard to visualise – this graphic provides a useful illustration.
How are these numbers calculated?
Well taking the 695 flights, for example, using a long-haul flight from London to San Francisco, a distance of 8,619.80 km, and using the UK government’s greenhouse gas report from 2017, this flight emits 0.15119 kg per km of CO2 per person seated in economy class. This means the total flight emissions for one person is 1303.23 kg (1.3 tonnes). So 905.76 tonnes saved is equivalent to just over 695 passenger long-haul flights from London to San Francisco which is about two full Boeing 777s.
It is clear that we still have some ways to go meet our 2030 ‘net zero’ target but in the meantime, we are doing our best to take responsibility for our ongoing environmental impact and feel that we have made a good start in the first 12 months.
Rest assured we are committed to being Absolutely Sustainable.
