Firmenich has announced that it will invest in Livelihoods’ second carbon fund, which aims to improve the lives of farmers and reduce carbon emissions. They will also be partnering with Crédit Agricole, Danone, Hermès, Michelin, SAP, Schneider Electric and Voyageurs du Monde to launch the fund.
Investing in Sustainability
The eight companies will launch the new carbon fund on December 11, 2017, before the International Climate Summit. This new investment fund will aim to improve to lives of two million farmers and reduce carbon emissions by up to 25 million tons over a 20-year period through investing in sustainability initiatives like ecosystem restoration, agroforestry and energy products.
“With 2017 set to be one of top three hottest years on record, business should play an even bigger leadership role to tackle climate change”, said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO Firmenich. “I am excited about this new carbon fund, our most ambitious and innovative to date, as it will positively preserve nature while enhancing the livelihoods of farming communities around the world.”
Connecting Communities
Firmenich was an investor of the first Livelihoods Carbon Fund since 2011, which has helped plant 130 trees, equipped 120,000 families with efficient cooking stoves and off-set 10 million tons of CO2 emissions.
“The investment model of the Livelihoods Fund has proven that we can build large-scale projects connecting worlds seemingly far from each other: large companies acting against climate change and poor communities faced with the effects of climate change. The results we have achieved since 2011 encourage us to move forward by building on our learnings,” said Bernard Giraud, president and cofounder of Livelihoods Venture.
