Volkswagen wants to protect endangered forests

MANILA: The Volkswagen Group signed a joint development agreement with Permian Global (project developer) on June 4 to develop climate protection initiatives, intending to safeguard tropical and subtropical endangered forests during the second half of 2020.

After successful validation, the protection and restoration and  of endangered forests will bring carbon credits and lock away carbon. Carbon credits will be utilized for the compensation of CO2 emissions from the supply chain, logistics, and manufacture of vehicles, given that renewable energies cannot be used currently and such CO2 emissions cannot be prevented.

Under the agreement, the two companies will start the development of projects that involve a total area of one million hectares in Asia and South America.

Aside from protecting endangered forests, other goals of the projects include significant contributions to the current climate crisis, preservation of biodiversity, and sustainable options to deforestation, which will benefit local communities.

The initiatives will also support the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These projects will be independently evaluated and authorized based on the highest standards, specifically the Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB) or Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).

Volkswagen Group Ralf Pfitzner Head of Sustainability said that they are grateful to be promoting another aspect of the climate protection initiative of the auto company through the support of Permian Global. The expansion and protection of natural CO2 sinks is an essential task that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has repetitively highlighted.

The chairman of Permian Global, Stephen Rumsey, also stated that healthy natural forests offer multiple benefits for the environment and people. These include the capability to acquire and store large amounts of carbon. Due to the scale and urgency of the climate crisis, it is essential that industry leaders boost more considerable positive changes. Moreover, they acknowledged Volkswagen as their partner dedicated to conceptualizing and executing environmental solutions.

Photos from Volkswagen

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