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Amazon today announced a $10 million grant to conserve, restore, and support sustainable forestry, wildlife and nature-based solutions across the Appalachian Mountains, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy. Nature-based solutions refer to the sustainable management and use of nature for tackling challenges such as removing carbon from the atmosphere to slow climate change and helping maintain water and food security, biodiversity protection, human health, and disaster risk management. This funding will initially support projects in Pennsylvania and Vermont that will help family forest owners sequester carbon and support expansion across the Appalachians in a network of climate-resilient forests that scientists at The Nature Conservancy have identified as most able to thrive in the face of climate change. This is the first project from Amazon’s $100 millionRight Now Climate Fund, an initiative to remove carbon from the atmosphere through the restoration and conservation of forests, wetlands, grasslands and peatlands around the world. Last year, Amazon co-founded with Global Optimism and became the first signatory of The Climate Pledge – committing to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net zero carbon by 2040 through decarbonization of its operations and use of nature-based solutions.
As world leaders gather in Glasgow this week, we are reminded that Canada’s forests give our country a powerful advantage that is the envy of most countries on the planet. Canada’s forests and the sustainably sourced products they provide are among the most powerful weapons in Canada’s climate change arsenal as we work to reduce emissions and store more carbon in the coming years. Canadian forestry is rooted in the principles of sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and supporting forest health and renewal. Our foresters have, for decades, acted as our first line of defense in managing these dynamic ecosystems and have long supported the need for action on climate change. Canada’s forest sector was one of the few industry groups that got behind The Kyoto Protocol in the late 90s. We were early adopters of industry targets to help Canada meet its Paris Agreement commitments, and we are currently finalizing an action plan to be the blueprint for how the sector will help Canada achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. In fact, we believe we are one of the few industries in the country that can go beyond net-zero – and do it before 2050.
The guide provides practical advice to help ensure buying decisions go beyond the traditional concerns of price, quality, and availability to also consider environmental and social impacts such as climate change, legality and certification – highlighting PEFC and its North American members SFI and CSA among credible certification programs. It will help inform the growing number of companies who wish to adopt green procurement policies as part of their efforts to achieve their own sustainability goals.