By Rusen Kumar

QNET offices and events have been meat-free. It helps in creating awareness about the harmful environmental impact of animal agriculture. The E-commerce-based direct selling company is reiterating its commitment towards sustainability. Recently, the company said that it has announced its new Green Legacy programme. Green Legacy is an initiative that complements the company’s long-held commitment to sustainability exemplified through its policies such as being a meat-free organisation and banning single-use plastic in all its offices.

“Since day one, all QNET offices and events have been meat-free to create awareness about the harmful environmental impact of animal agriculture. One of the driving forces of deforestation, especially in the Amazon, is the animal agriculture sector.”, the company said.

The lives of plants and animals are interdependent. Killing animals for food also adversely impacts the environment and ecology. A high level of commitment to making a meet-free organisation is a unique example of sustainability commitment by a larger organisation.

QNET is focusing on tree plantations. To implement a tree plantation initiative, the company partnered with Certified B Corporation, EcoMatcher, with the planting of three new forests in Kenya, UAE, and the Philippines.

It is worth mentioning that the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify reforestation and sustainable forest management as key to combating climate change.

“QNET understands the critical role of forests in the livelihoods, ecology, culture, and health of the communities in which it operates. The Green Legacy initiative is QNET’s commitment to actively protect nature by planting trees that help improve local ecosystems and generate sustainable agro-forestry livelihoods for local communities.”. the company said.

“To say we are planting trees is perfunctory,” says Malou Caluza, QNET CEO. “Our commitment to reforestation in these communities goes much deeper. We are in a long-term partnership to ensure these forests thrive long into the future while meeting the needs and desires of each community. QNET is building a Green Legacy to protect the planet for all of us. These three forests are just the beginning. We will work closely with EcoMatcher and other environmental organisations to identify the global footprint of the QNET forests over the next few years.”

The initiative is also in line with the recent commitment by more than 100 global leaders at the 2021 COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, signaling the beginning of a coordinated global endeavour targeted at reversing climate change.

Blockchain-enabled digital tree-planting platform

EcoMatcher, a certified social enterprise and the world’s first blockchain-enabled digital tree-planting platform, works with carefully selected and vetted environmental organisations from around the world to enable companies to incorporate tree-planting into their business.

Via the EcoMatcher app, QNET can track every tree’s performance on a mobile device through ID geolocation, learn each tree’s story — its species, plant date, farmer and more, and even engage with each tree while tracking its carbon impact with easy-to-use dashboards.

Green Legacy programme

Through this partnership, QNET has launched the first phase of the Green Legacy programme by planting forests comprising 1000 trees each in the UAE, Kenya and the Philippines. The programme contributes to UN’s SDGs 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land). The three QNET forests collectively support the families of 15 planters in these countries and will sequester 750 tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the trees.

Forest is being planted in the degraded forest lands

In the Philippines, the forests with indigenous trees are being planted in the Sierra Madre Mountain range, in the UAE, mangrove trees are being planted along the western coast of Dubai, and in Kenya, the QNET forest is being planted in the degraded forest lands of Embu County in Eastern Kenya.

Catch up with deforestation by 2050

Forests support more than 80% of the world’s land species and protect 75% of our freshwater. They reduce the risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides, and more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood. According to the World Wildlife Fund, tropical forests are losing more than 30 football fields worth of trees every minute. To catch up with deforestation by 2050, the world would need to grow enough trees to cover an area 5 times the size of India.

Promoting a sustainable corporate culture

QNET is taking a future-ready stance and focusing on sustainable practices that lessen its environmental impact and protect its employees and communities through multiple avenues, such as developing products strategically and holistically, ensuring an ethical supply chain, and promoting a sustainable corporate culture.

A purpose-driven company

“As a global company with nearly a thousand employees and millions of customers in approximately 100 countries, QNET is committed to being a purpose-driven company that is driving change in the lives of our people, our communities, and the planet. Most recently, when Turkey was ravaged by hundreds of wildfires across 14 locations, we stepped in by donating 2000 saplings to an environmental foundation leading a reforestation effort in Antalya. Our partnership with EcoMatcher is the latest manifestation of our commitment to the environment that stretches back over the past 23 years.” added Caluza.

(Rusen Kumar is a CSR leader in India. He regularly writes on CSR and Sustainability.)