[Image: Unsplash]
E-commerce giant, Amazon, has announced that it will be bankrolling one of the world’s biggest land-restoration projects, and it’s happening right here in South Africa. The company is committing to rehabilitate more than 50 000 hectares of degraded land in the Eastern Cape by planting 180 million spekboom shrubs.
It is expected that this project will create about 11 000 jobs by 2030 and generate more than $500 million (over R8 billion) in economic value for local communities. Which is the least that a company owned by billionaire, Jeff Bezos, can do when the world knows how poorly its staff are treated.
As part of the initiative, Amazon will purchase 1.95 million tonnes of nature-based carbon removal credits generated by the project. This will mark one of the largest carbon credit commitments in South Africa’s history. Kara Hurst, Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, said, “This is a story about nature, community, ingenuity and scale”.
As companies increasingly back projects that combine emissions reduction with economic development and environmental restoration, this investment places South Africa within the expanding global market for nature-based carbon credits. Hurst added, “This project will restore the ecosystem and create jobs, [providing] a model for how nature-based solutions can enable both climate action and economic development”.
The indigenous succulent is known for its ability to absorb and store carbon and is expected to help restore biodiversity while improving the resilience of degraded landscapes to drought and climate change.
The deal also reflects the growing demand from multinational companies for high-quality carbon removal credits that deliver measurable environmental benefits alongside employment opportunities and lasting value for host communities. And, no doubt, to make sure that they are viewed positively in the eyes of the public.
Considering the toll Amazon waste probably takes on the environment on a global scale in the form of packaging and pollution, this is the least they can do.
[Source: The Citizen]
Helen Wallace
www.2oceansvibe.com