The Lifetime Carbon Neutral commitment: Taking responsibility for past and future carbon emissions. VELUX-WWF partnership to capture the VELUX Group’s historical carbon emissions through forest conservation.
VELUX A/S
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Private sector
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#SDGAction33576
Description
At a time when the planet is facing dual climate and nature crises, VELUX is raising the bar for corporate climate and nature action by taking responsibility of our past and future carbon emissions to become Lifetime Carbon Neutral. We will reduce our future carbon footprint in line with science (1.5˚ C pathway) and have partnered with WWF to capture our historical carbon footprint through forest conservation. This will help halt habitat loss and preserve biodiversity. We will capture approx. 5.6 million tonnes of CO2e (incl. a 25% buffer), which is the equivalent to VELUX Group’s historical CO2 emissions since our foundation in 1941 and up to our 100-year anniversary in 2041 (scope 1 and 2)
The Lifetime Carbon Neutral commitment was launched as part of the VELUX Group’s Sustainability Strategy 2030 – effectively starting 1st January 2021. We have set specific selection criteria for all of the expected forest projects to ensure they will deliver measurable results for biodiversity, communities and climate and that they are sustainable. Respect of human rights, support to and local involvement from communities and authorities, and the fact that the projects provide incentives for the local populations are a must. The forest projects in Uganda and Myanmar are in the process of being started up, and WWF is working closely with stakeholders on the ground. WWF will ensure that thorough Environmental and Social Safeguard measures are in place for the WWF landscape programmes that the projects are part of. The forest projects will continuously be reviewed, adjusted and refined to ensure that our promise – to capture the Group’s historical carbon footprint – is met and that they deliver the best possible benefits to the environment and biodiversity, and to local communities. All the forest projects will be validated and certified by third party auditors and registered with a recognised carbon standard, such as the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) under Verra. Verra runs a publicly available and transparent registry of all projects under their standards. Here, all information, i.e. monitoring reports and progress on climate and other targets, such as community and biodiversity, is publicly available. The registry can be accessed via the Verra website https://registry.verra.org/ We do not disclose specific financial figures for our partnership due to sensitivity of commercial information reflected in contractual agreements.
Lessons from other WWF forest projects are that they create greater resilience in communities through improved knowledge, social anchoring and an ability to manage natural resources. Besides capturing carbon, the WWF forest projects provide alternative livelihoods for communities. Communities engage in profitable and sustainable activities, such as climate smart agriculture and agroforestry in order to improve the efficiency of agricultural production. Climate smart agricultural practices will contribute to improved food security as well as providing an alternative source of income to unsustainable forest harvesting. Our aim is to accelerate climate action, address nature loss, and to integrate this into our company long-term thinking, for the benefit of our business and society at large. ‘Lifetime Carbon Neutral’ is about ensuring that we protect the environment today and for future generations, because we believe that this will ultimately lead to greater prosperity for all.
Innovation: The VELUX-WWF partnership capturing historical carbon footprint through forest conservation is – as far as we know – the first of its kind. In addition, a method for calculating historical CO2 emissions, which did not previously exist, is now developed and is also verified by Carbon Trust (in accordance with Green House Gas criteria), and reviewed by WWF experts. The method is replicable and made readily available for other companies. The long-term partnership commitment and strong presence and involvement of local communities on the ground will help ensure sustainability of capacity build within sustainable forest management.
The method for calculating historical carbon emissions is made available to interested parties. Both VELUX and WWF have entered dialogues with companies interested in going above and beyond net-zero ambitions in their carbon- and biodiversity efforts and in knowing more about the approach to become Lifetime Carbon Neutral. In addition to the WWF partnership, we are transforming our entire business - from production to sourcing and logistics - and will operate as a carbon neutral company by 2030 (scope 1 and 2) and reduce the carbon footprint of our value chain by 50% (scope 3) in line with science. We will, inter alia, accelerate investments in energy efficiency at production sites, shift to renewable energy and purchase 100% renewable electricity. The Lifetime Carbon Neutral approach aims to accelerate broad corporate action to combat climate change. Both VELUX and WWF are convinced that this may lead to a significant positive impact, if scaled up and replicated by more companies.
https://www.velux.com/what-we-do/sustainability/sustainability-strategy… https://www.wwf.dk/velux/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/velux_naturebasedsolutions-sustainabilit… https://www.linkedin.com/posts/velux_our-path-to-become-lifetime-carbon… https://www.linkedin.com/posts/velux_how-will-we-reach-our-goal-of-beco… https://www.linkedin.com/posts/velux_sustainability-activity-6739918077…
COVID-19 has partly influenced the speed of delivery in terms of finalising agreements in Uganda and Myanmar; and if the pandemic drags out, this might lead to further minor delays. However, so far there is enough flexibility and robustness in the programme to counter the COVID-19 impact.
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Key stakeholders: VELUX A/S, WWF, local populations in the forest areas, local entities and governments. Local stakeholders are expected to experience improved livelihoods as they engage in tree planting and agro-forestry activities, plus community-based enterprises. A strong VELUX-WWF partnership has been developed with strong co-creation. Other beneficiaries: VELUX customers and employees, other companies aiming at taking similar action.
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Caroline, Partnership Manager
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