VELUX Group announces two new climate and conservation projects in Viet Nam and Madagascar in partnership with WWF

As part of the VELUX Group’s target to capture the historical emissions from operations, the group will finance two additional forest conservation and restoration projects in tropical landscapes. Together with the first project in Uganda, the new projects in Viet Nam and Madagascar will contribute significantly to the capture of the Group’s historical emissions from operations.

The VELUX Group has committed to capture the equivalent of their historical CO₂ emissions from operations from 1941 to 2041. This will be achieved through a portfolio of forest projects financed by the VELUX Group and developed and managed by WWF offices in each country in partnership with local authorities and communities. The VELUX-WWF partnership goes beyond emission reduction in the VELUX Group’s own operations and its value chain, where the Group has set a target to achieve a 100% reduction in emissions from operations (scope 1 and 2) and to halve their value chain emissions (scope 3) by 2030.

The partnership's first forest project is located in Uganda, where one of the worst affected areas, Kagombe in Uganda, has seen a deforestation rate of 73% in the past decade. The project aims to restore degraded forests, plant new trees, and protect the existing natural forests.  Through community-based conservation, it is expected that the project will capture 1 million tonnes of CO2. More than 180,000 trees have now been planted and local alternatively livelihood activities have commenced.

Two new projects to benefit people, nature and climate
The two additional forest projects have been selected based on the carbon potential, the biodiversity and community benefits as well as the long-term sustainability of each project. The project in Viet Nam, located in the mountainous Central Annamites Landscape, focuses on REDD activities and is expected to contribute with reductions and removals of more than 2 million tonnes of CO₂. The project in Madagascar is located in the mangroves of the Manambolo – Tsiribihina Landscape and focuses on ARR activities. The project is expected to contribute with reductions and removals of more than 0.5 million tonnes of CO₂. All numbers are preliminary estimates and may be subject to change as part of a third party validation.

Each project will deliver nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate mitigation aligned with WWF’s Blueprint for High-Quality Interventions that Work for People, Nature and Climate. These projects are designed to halt deforestation and restore natural forests in key biodiversity hot spots in partnership with communities and local authorities. The carbon emissions removed and reduced from the forest projects will be donated to the host countries’ conditional climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. This means that the carbon will not be used for off-setting of VELUX carbon emissions or any other organisation’s emissions.

Read more about the projects in Uganda, Viet Nam and Madagascar.

For more information contact
Christine Boeriis Dannisøe, Media Relations Manager: + 45 28 97 80 72 or christine.dannisoee@velux.com

Mai-Britt Noe, Head of PR & Media, WWF Denmark: +45 28 93 63 28 or mai-britt.noe@wwf.dk

Progress on the Uganda project 

• 180,000+ trees have been planted in Kagombe Central Forest Reserve 
• The project is also starting to have positive impact on local communities with introduction of alternative livelihood options such as mushroom growing and large-scale apiaries. 
• More than 400 beehives have been set up in two communities and will provide a substantial economic contribution to the 80 community group members. 
• Each beehive is expected to generate a gross income of USD 124 annually, which is equivalent to 92% of annual per capita income in the Project Area.