Beyond ONE™, the digital services provider and TMT-sector (technology, media, telecommunications) investment and operations company, has demonstrated its commitment to generating positive impact for both people and planet, making its first investment in the active protection of endangered rainforests.

The initial acquisition of 262 hectares of land in Ecuador’s Cloud Rainforest through the charity Rainforest Concerncomes after the completion of Beyond ONE’s first carbon footprint report, documenting the current annual carbon emissions of the organisation and its current portfolio of companies, including Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa operations in Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE and Kuwait.

The investment ensures direct protection of an existing threatened tropical forest in one of the most biodiverse regions of the planet, and is not limited to trees, but also the vast diversity of plant and animal species they contain. The natural resources that rainforests provide are essential components in addressing climate instability, and their protection from excessive deforestation has become critical.

According to UN Climate Change, only by stepping up efforts to reduce deforestation and implementing other mitigation activities in the forest sector can the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels be reached. This requires the mobilisation of funds from both government and private sectors to support implementation of initiatives.

Markus Tagger, Group CEO of Beyond ONE, said: “Our focus on positively impacting people and planet extends to everything we say and do.  Our immediate actions following the calculation of our 2021 carbon emissions have been to implement measures that reduce these at an operational level, and to invest in the tangible protection of a natural resource that impacts all corners of the world. This enables carbon neutrality for our businesses currently, as we work towards our goal of carbon negativity.

“Not only do rainforests house nearly 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, they also provide homes and natural resources that support livelihoods for 1.6 billion people.  Our partnership with Rainforest Concern is a long-term initiative that will see us contributing in perpetuity to the protection ofthis invaluable and irreplaceable part of nature, as the extinction of the world’s rainforests would threaten the future of our planet.”

Peter Bennett, Founder Director, Rainforest Concern said: “Rainforest Concern is delighted to enter a new partnership with Beyond ONE. Proactive and committed actions by organisations like Beyond ONE to invest in standing threatened forests is one of the most effective defences we have against the current climate crisis we’re facing. We hope their initiative inspires others to do the same.”

For more information, please visit Beyond ONE’s Earth section.