Afforestation contributes to enhancing forest carbon credits

The program takes place at Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, Thanh Hoa province, to restore and develop special-use forests. Annual social responsibility activity involves employees' participation in achieving the vision of bringing healthy lives to people and contributing to the country's sustainable development.

In addition, afforestation in the area contributes to developing carbon credit potential, one of Panasonic Vietnam's directions to reduce CO2 emissions.

From 2013 until now, Panasonic Vietnam has planted and donated more than 270,000 trees in 10 provinces and cities, with the active participation of employees to convey the message "Panasonic for a green Vietnam."

This year, more than 100 Panasonic Vietnam employees traveled hundreds of kilometers to Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, coordinating with the government and local people to plant 15,000 native trees, such as Parashorea stellata, Brownlowia denysiana, etc.

These native large tree species have value in restoring degraded forest land, contributing to developing special-use forests to improve watershed protection, CO2 absorption, and combating climate change.

With the support of the Management Board of Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, the forest area planted by Panasonic Vietnam has increased to 33 hectares in the last two years.

Previously, in 2023, Panasonic Vietnam planted 13,000 trees in the "Eco Relay" program and 10,000 trees in another program called "Live Green and Wellness with Gen G" at Xuan Lien Nature Reserve.

"Eco Relay" is a global initiative of the Japanese corporation, aiming to inspire each employee to become a "sustainability ambassador." Besides planting new trees, this year, members visited and took care of the area planted last year to understand better the importance of developing and protecting forests.

"In 2022, the company announced its Panasonic Green Impact commitment to cut more than 300 million tons of CO2 in its value chain by 2050, equivalent to 1% of current global CO2 emissions, to contribute to response to climate change.

However, we understand that environmental protection is becoming more urgent than ever in Vietnam when many natural disasters have continuously occurred in recent years," said Mr. Marukawa Yoichi, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Panasonic sets out a vision for the next 50 years with a solid commitment to contribute more to people's health and the country's sustainable development through business activities, responsibilities, and social responsibility.

However, one business cannot create enough impact; it needs more participation from many stakeholders, especially the younger generation.

Mr. Marukawa Yoichi emphasized: "We have been dedicated to implementing the tree planting program for more than ten years while creating opportunities for employees to protect the environment, for a green Vietnam, and to spread to the community to work together. Acting together creates more green impacts."

In addition to afforestation activities with the active participation of employees, Panasonic Vietnam has just completed planting 250,000 trees, bringing the total number of trees planted to more than 600,000 trees nationwide after two years of the program "Live Healthy, Contribute Green with Panasonic" with the cooperation of customers and partners.

In Thanh Hoa province, Panasonic VIetnam continues to choose the location for afforestation in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, which plays a vital role as the mountain forest upstream of the Chu River.

This special-use forest includes natural forests, rivers, and lakes to protect domestic water sources and irrigation for millions of people in Thanh Hoa province and surrounding areas while retaining water to help prevent erosion and landslides and reduce floods.

Mr. Vi Manh Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Xuan commune, Thuong Xuan district, said: "The activities carried out by Panasonic help raise awareness of environmental protection for people, while also inspiring and providing more knowledge" for future generations of the locality to achieve the goal of sustainable development.

In 2023, Vietnam successfully sold 10.3 million forest carbon credits to the World Bank for the first time and earned more than USD 51 million. Thanh Hoa is one of 6 provinces in the payment project area.

During a working session with the MARD, the World Bank recently proposed that Vietnam officially announce the auction of excess carbon credits. This move will demonstrate Vietnam's commitment to the financialization of emissions reduction, aligning with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's pledge at the COP26 summit to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.