Buyagift is forging the way in taking responsibility for the environmental impact from its business as the first experience provider in the UK to offset 100% of its carbon footprint, which is equivalent to driving from Land’s End to John O’Groats 136,271 times.
Buyagift has taken responsibility for all unavoidable emissions across the business, including its customers’ travel to the experience. In taking this additional step, it is allowing its customers to reduce their own personal environmental impacts. Through this programme of reduction and mitigation, Buyagift is using its leadership position to support measurable climate action to give back to the community locally and globally and deliver environmental protection.
The experience provider has worked with trusted and credible providers of climate solutions, to ensure the highest environmental integrity. South Pole, a leading carbon reduction project developer and global sustainability consultancy, certified Buyagift as Climate Neutral by verifying their footprint for the financial year of 2019–2020 following the World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol – the internationally recognised standard for corporate emissions reporting.
Dan Mountain, CEO of Buyagift UK, says,
“We are proud to officially become a carbon neutral business. Our aim for the past 20 years has been to minimise and mitigate the environmental impacts of our business and in doing so we have supported the forestry protection charity, Cool Earth. Now, with this neutrality achievement, we have accurately calculated the amount of carbon created by all aspects of our business and we are off-setting 100% of this through verified carbon projects with South Pole to protect our carbon sinks and support the transition to a low carbon economy. Buyagift’s approach begins to address this issue in ways that can be adopted by other companies, and we want our actions to inspire, not only our customers but also employees, and partners on their climate journey.”
By offering e-vouchers and recyclable packaging Buyagift provides their customers easier ways to make smarter choices for the environment, and by choosing Buyagift, customers can rest assured they are supporting a better, cleaner future locally and globally.
The projects that Buyagift support include:
Kariba – Forest Protection in Zimbabwe
The Kariba Project protects almost 785,000 hectares of forests and wildlife on the southern shores of Lake Kariba, near the Zimbabwe-Zambia border. One of the largest registered REDD+ projects by area, the project forms a giant biodiversity corridor, connecting four national parks and eight safari reserves. The project is home to numerous vulnerable and endangered species – including the African elephant, lion, hippo, lappet-faced vulture and southern ground hornbill.
Kariba supports a range of activities that foster environmental protection, while promoting the independence and wellbeing of the communities living within the project area. Local people are taught techniques for conservation farming and how to keep bees, nutritional gardens are established and supported with seeds and other materials, and the project runs various educational initiatives at school.
Vichada – Landscape Restoration in Colombia
The planet-saving project combines reforestation for sustainable timber production with biodiversity protection and ecosystem restoration. The resulting forest provides habitat for a range of native plants and animals, it also improves soil quality, protects local watershed and of course sequestered carbon from the atmosphere. As well as these environmental benefits, the project boosts the local economy by creating a sustainable industry and 80 new jobs. Local employees enjoy income security, legal protections and training opportunities.
Mahindra – Solar Energy in India
India’s energy demands are increasing exponentially as its booming economy grows. By installing 5 grid-connected solar plants, the project is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The project is helping to expand India’s renewable infrastructure and knowledge, helping the country transition towards a low-carbon energy future.
Infravest Fongwei – Wind power in Taiwan
Taiwan’s energy supply is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels. Therefore, a switch to renewable energy sources is an important environmental and economic step for Taiwan. The project installed 42 wind turbines to convert wind energy into electricity. This contributes to the development of the wind energy sector in Taiwan, with a long-term benefit for the clean energy transition in Asia. The project also creates 49 jobs and training opportunities in a growing sector.