Executive director of environmental conservation organisation Ecotrust, Pauline Nantongo Kalunda, has visited supporter Straight plc, the Leeds-based waste and recycling products manufacturer, as part of a week-long visit to the UK to meet with businesses that have bought carbon credits from Ecotrust’s project in Uganda ‘Trees for Global Benefit’.
Pauline met with Jonathan Straight, chief executive of Straight plc, at the company’s Whitehall Riverside head office. Also present was Dr Dominick Spracklen of the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds which is responsible for screening environmental projects for Yorkshire-based charity United Bank of Carbon (UBoC) which managed Straight’s support of the Ecotrust project.
Straight plc committed to working with UBoC 18 months ago and is buying 1100 carbon credits from Ecotrust, a not for profit organization, as part of a certified scheme run by Plan Vivo to offset emissions associated with Straight’s Steelybin product range. Set up in 1994, the Plan Vivo scheme aims to give aid through trade by enabling small holder farmers to plant trees which, following regular audits, will deliver carbon, a valuable product which can be traded with the developed world.
Jonathan Wild of UBoC.explained
Projects under the Plan Vivo Standard mean we now have a system where the rural poor of the developing world can choose to diversify their livelihoods by earning cash in return for carbon trade with consumers in the developed world, while protecting their environment at the same time.
It’s fantastic for Pauline to be able to meet some of the forward-thinking companies like Straight which are taking a positive approach to carbon balancing and actually funding a benefit.
Founded by Bettys and Taylors Group, the University of Leeds and Deloitte, UBoC enables businesses to play a part in tackling climate change by matching them with verified rainforest projects from around the globe. Businesses are able to choose from the largest bank of verified rainforest protection projects in the world and find a specific environmental project to partner which has synergies with their own organisation.
Plan Vivo projects are now operating in Mexico, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Nicaragua, Mozambique and Bolivia. For more information, visit www.unitedbankofcarbon.com
