Beyond ONE, whose current portfolio of companies includes Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa, announced acquisition of 262 hectares of land in Ecuador’s cloud rainforest.
The investment for the forest land is to be done through the charity Rainforest Concern, the company said.
Beyond ONE, a digital services provider and TMT-sector investment company, said its new investment is in line with its commitment to generating positive impact for both people and planet.
This will be the company’s first investment in the active protection of endangered rainforests.
The move comes after the completion of Beyond ONE’s first carbon footprint report, documenting the current annual carbon emissions of the organization.
The company said the investment is to ensure direct protection of an existing threatened tropical forest in one of the most biodiverse regions of the planet, and is not limited to trees, but also the vast diversity of plant and animal species they contain.
“The natural resources that rainforests provide are essential components in addressing climate instability, and their protection from excessive deforestation has become critical,” it said.
Markus Tagger, Group CEO of Beyond ONE, said the company’s focus on positively impacting people and the planet extends to everything it says and does.
“Our immediate actions following the calculation of our 2021 carbon emissions have been to implement measures that reduce these at an operational level, and to invest in the tangible protection of a natural resource that impacts all corners of the world,” he said.
Tagger said this enables carbon neutrality for our businesses currently, as it works towards the goal of carbon negativity.
“Not only do rainforests house nearly 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, they also provide homes and natural resources that support livelihoods for 1.6 billion people. Our partnership with Rainforest Concern is a long-term initiative that will see us contributing in perpetuity to the protection of this invaluable and irreplaceable part of nature, as the extinction of the world’s rainforests would threaten the future of our planet,” he said.
Peter Bennett, Founder Director, Rainforest Concernsaid the organization is delighted to enter a new partnership with Beyond ONE.
“Proactive and committed actions by organisations like Beyond ONE to invest in standing threatened forests is one of the most effective defences we have against the current climate crisis we’re facing. We hope their initiative inspires others to do the same,” Bennett said.
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