HP Inc. and the Arbor Day Foundation have partnered to plant one million trees by the end of 2020. During Climate Week (21-27 September) HP continued to showcase its commitment to a low-carbon, circular economy through protecting, restoring, and promoting sustainable forests while setting goals and intentions to reduce consumption in operations over the next five years.
HP’s partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation supports World Economic Forum’s and American Forests’ 1t.org U.S. initiative that serves as a global movement to conserve, restore and grow one trillion trees by 2030. The pledge reaffirms HP’s ongoing commitment to restoring, protecting and improving the management of global forests as part of the company’s vision for print sustainability. In addition, HP pledged to reduce potable water consumption in global operations by 35% by 2025, an industry-leading goal.
‘At HP, we believe the science that confirms this is the crucial decade for addressing climate change and know that ensuring access to critical natural resources like forests and water is a key part of a global solution,’ said Ellen Jackowski, chief sustainability and social impact officer at HP. ‘By collaborating with organisations such as the Arbor Day Foundation, we are helping restore and preserve the world’s forests for generations to come.’
Since January 2020, through its partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, HP has also:
– Contributed toward reforestation in California, Michigan, Florida and the Mississippi River Valley. From wildfire restoration and watershed management to endangered species protection, these projects drive positive, long-term environmental impact.
– Honoured HP employees by planting one tree for each of HP’s 55,000 employees around the world. HP employees voted to plant these trees in California, Ireland, Brazil, Indonesia and Texas.
‘Forests are a critical tool not only to remove carbon from the atmosphere, but also to mitigate the immediate impacts of the changing climate disasters on people, wildlife and critical ecosystems around the globe,’ said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. ‘By restoring tree loss, committed partners like HP are making a significant investment in our health and well-being now and for generations to come.’
HP’s partnership with the Foundation is a part of the HP Sustainable Forests Collaborative, which launched in 2019 with the support of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and International Paper. Earlier this year, Arbor Day Foundation, Chenming Paper, Domtar and New Leaf Paper joined the HP Sustainable Forest Collaborative to accelerate efforts on forest restoration. The cross-industry collaboration will demonstrate scientific and commercially viable approaches to keeping working forest ecosystems healthy. Together, HP and the collaborative members encourage other companies to join their reforestation efforts to restore and protect global forests for future generations.
The Arbor Day Foundation partnership adds to a five-year R187 million ($11 million) commitment HP made in September 2019 to protect 200,000 acres of forest in China and Brazil, an area equal to the size of New York City, by collaborating with World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The partnership with WWF also includes a R17 million ($1 million) donation from HP to support the development of science-based guidance related to three issues central to sustaining the world’s forests. These comprise the quantity and quality of forests needed in key regions to ensure the forests can support people and nature, including: contributions to a larger global Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), actions companies can take to keep those forests thriving and tools companies can use to better estimate the climate, water and other nature-related co-benefits of their actions.
Today, all HP branded paper is deforestation-free, and HP is on track to derive all paper-based product packaging from certified and recycled sources by the end of 2020, with a preference for virgin fibre from FSC-certified sources.
However, the company believes more private and public partnerships are needed to enable all participants to collaborate, share best practices and take advantage of each other’s strengths. To that end, HP recently made a commitment to the U.S. chapter of the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org, the global trillion tree movement. The initiative is designed to bring together like-minded companies, governments and organisations to accelerate the restoration of degraded forest ecosystems, fight climate change and protect biodiversity on the planet. Through these types of collaborations, HP believes it can magnify its influence to inspire widespread action across all industries – helping create a more sustainable future for the generations to come.
HP is also announcing a corporate goal to reduce potable water consumption across global operations by 35% by 2025, compared to 2015. Previously, HP committed to reduce potable water consumption by 15% by 2025, compared to 2015. In 2019, HP exceeded its water goal six years early, by consuming 18% less than in 2015. As part of the goal, HP is focusing on high risk and high water-consuming sites. As the private sector continues to look at climate risks from a business and financial perspective, HP will focus on facilities in areas that have seen higher droughts and less potable water for global citizens. Last year, HP received an ‘A’ on the 2019 CDP Water list.
