The WWF-VELUX partnership

We finance forest projects that capture carbon equivalent to our historical CO2 emissions delivered by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Our twenty-year partnership will deliver a portfolio of forest projects in tropical forest landscapes with high biodiversity value that will create positive change for people, nature and climate. The carbon captured from these forest projects will be donated to the host countries’ climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. This means that the carbon captured by the forest projects will not be used for off-setting of VELUX carbon emissions or any other organisation’s emissions.

By 2041, it is expected that the forest protection and restoration projects will have captured at least 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of all CO2 emitted by the VELUX Group (scope 1 and 2) since it was founded in 1941. To increase the likelihood that the forest projects will reach this target, the projects will be designed with a 25% built-in CO2 buffer bringing the total potential capture to approximately 5.6 million tonnes of CO2.

Forest conservation projects with a focus on people, nature and climate

By partnering with WWF to develop new forest projects from scratch, we are taking a unique approach to protect and restore forests in some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the world. Forest conservation is one of the most effective methods to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and help mitigate climate change. The projects are selected based on several criteria including the carbon potential, the biodiversity and community benefits as well as the long-term sustainability of the project.

Based on WWF’s expertise and experience in this area, tropical forests were identified as the most suitable to reach this target and achieve our vision. The final composition of project types in the portfolio was decided based on in-depth feasibility studies. The projects will include a combination of REDD* (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) and AAR* (Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation) activities.

Each project will deliver nature-based solutions for climate mitigation aligned with WWF’s Blueprint for High-Quality Interventions that Work for People, Nature and Climate. The  Blueprint outlines principles for project interventions to ensure that they deliver positive climate mitigation impacts and manage anticipated climate risks, while simultaneously delivering benefits and real impact for people and biodiversity.

The challenge to calculate historical emissions

No standard methodology exists today on how to calculate a historical carbon footprint. Therefore, we developed a method to calculate our historical carbon emissions based on the recognised Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard and applied this to our historical data. This unique methodology, including the underlying assumptions, was independently verified by Carbon Trust and reviewed by scientific experts at WWF.

Carbon capture is calculated using standards created by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading international body for assessment of climate change. It is a key source of scientific information and technical guidance to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement.

The partnership will ensure ongoing monitoring of all forest projects and include third party verification according to international recognised standards – Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB) developed and managed by VERRA.