Eneco helps to preserve primary forest in Papua New Guinea
Eneco Energy Trade and the Australian company Rainforest Project Management have signed an agreement to the effect that Eneco shall invest in the preservation of 633,000 hectares of primary forest (4.5 times the size of the province of Utrecht) in Papua New Guinea. As a result, the forest (the April Salumei Sustainable Forest Management Project) can continue to contribute to the absorption of carbon, as it has for centuries, rather than being logged. Eneco shall use the related REDD+ credits (VERs), issued for this project under the supervision of theVerified Carbon Standard (VCS), as compensation for the environmental footprint of its business operations, on behalf of customers and in connection with projects.
The land is owned by 163 local communities. The REDD+ projects supports these communities by helping them to improve their livelihoods, thus preserving this primary tropical forest as a carbon ‘sink’. Protection of these ecosystems is of vital importance in the fight against climate change and preserving unique biodiversity.
Strict sustainability principles
Eneco applies strict sustainability principles for this project via theEneco Code of Conduct REDD+, which was created in consultation with WWF and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These principles have been adapted in accordance with the latest insights obtained by the UN over the past years in the application of this system. This means that the rights of indigenous communities are recognised and that the revenues from the sale of REDD+ credits flow through to such communities in a transparent way through a project fund. Consequently, the preservation of the forest will result in structural improvements of the livelihoods of these communities.
REDD is an acronym for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, a mechanism that has been used by the United Nations (UNFCCC) in climate negotiations since 2005 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by protecting forests in developing countries.