Brighton Williams has joined in with a pilot tree-planting initiative run by Zurich. The drive to increase global tree planting has the potential to make a huge positive impact on CO2 levels.

The scheme is part of Zurich’s continued efforts to reduce their environmental footprint and support the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming. We are delighted with the opportunity to participate with Zurich in this excellent scheme.

Reforestation can fight Climate Change

50 mangrove trees (Ceriops tagal) have been planted on our behalfi in Madagascar. The trees were planted by Tree-Nation. The organisation allows companies to engage in the fight against Climate Change in a pragmatic and direct way. Their aim is to plant as many trees as possible to counter deforestation and thus Climate Change.

Trees help to reduce CO2

Climate Change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat. CO2 is the most prominent of these and 17% of total CO2 emissions is due to deforestation. This is because trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store it and global deforestation is contributing to Climate Change. Large scale tree planting programs can help to change this effect. A single tree can offset up to 250 Kg of CO2 during its lifespan.

Making changes to reduce our own carbon footprint

Our 50 trees will result in 2,000 Kg of CO2 being offset. We see this as a positive step towards counteracting our company’s CO2 emissions. We have already implemented some energy-saving initiatives such as using much less paper, waste and equipment recycling and using less electricity. This year has also seen the development of our staff garden where we have been planting lots of new flowers and shrubs. In addition to this a Work from Home Program has saved 33 journeys this month alone and is set to be a great success.