The theme of this year’s Earth Day is, “Together, we can Restore our Earth.” This is a timely reminder to all of us that we have a critical role to play in preventing the coming disasters of climate change and environmental destruction. As you are aware, The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for immediate action to combat climate change. Shifting temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, and more severe storm events threaten the health of communities and ecosystems across the country.
“As an agriculture company, we believe that a sustainable future for all is possible, but it requires commitment and action from everyone today. We rely on the health of our planet and the wellbeing of our people. That is why we are devoted to working towards A Better World Tomorrow – to ensure environmental protection and conservation.” Said Moses Machayo; Environment, Health and Safety – Senior Departmental Head, Del Monte Kenya Ltd.
As part of their climate change mitigation efforts, Del Monte Kenya is constantly working with their neighbors and communities to plant more trees annually.
“Over the past three years, we’ve been able to plant more than 20,000 trees at Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park, and this year we planted 10,000 indigenous trees in this endangered ecosystem and donated 3,000 tree seedlings to the neighboring community. It is our hope that these efforts will contribute significantly to the country’s goal of increasing its forest cover to 10 percent of the landmass.” Added Machayo.
Del Monte Kenya has also created a new Environmental Action Tool and database to track their company-wide greenhouse gas emissions.
“At DMKL, we are working to align our efforts to Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, which aims to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 32% by the year 2030. This new tool will give us the data we need to set greenhouse gas emissions baselines and develop science-based targets in the future.” Added Machayo.