General trading company Marubeni Corporation has announced that it has signed an MoU regarding a project to develop a carbon credit programme through reforestation with the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), DACON Corporation, majority owner of DMCI Holdings, and the University of the Philippines College of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPLB).
This will be the first effort to develop a carbon credit programme through reforestation in the Philippines in collaboration with Secretary Loyzaga from DENR representing the public, private, and academic sectors.
In the Philippines, approximately 70% of the country’s land was covered by forests at the beginning of the 20th century, but due to excessive logging, conversion to agricultural land, and other factors, the forest area had decreased to just over 20% by 2020. Deforestation is a major cause of natural disaster risks facing the Philippines, such as landslides and flood damage. Thus, reforestation is an urgent issue.
In this project, the government, private sector, and academic sector will reportedly work together to enhance the public good by contributing to environmental conservation and global warming countermeasures (as stated by the Philippines government), and to create economic value.
The project aims to restore biodiversity, create employment in local communities, and establish a carbon credit programme through carbon absorption and sequestration by forests. Marubeni will propel reforestation in the province of Negros Occidental, and the framework of the carbon credit programme.
Marubeni formulated a long-term vision for climate change in March 2021, and in its mid-term management strategy “GC2024”, Marubeni has positioned green strategy as one of the basic policies to enhance corporate value.
Marubeni will utilise the knowledge and expertise of its plantation projects in Indonesia and Australia, which total approximately 130,000 hectares, for this project, aiming to enhance the environmental and economic value of forest resources and to open the way to a sustainable future.
