The Amazon rainforest is the green lung of the planet: It stores immense amounts of carbon and stabilises the global climate. It is home to around 10% of all plant and animal species - and is in urgent need of protection.
Through our branch office in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, we feel particularly connected to this country. Thus, the forest protection project in Portel is a special affair of the heart. The idea behind it is to ensure a regular livelihood for the Ribeirinhos, one of the poorest population groups in the Amazon, and to protect the rainforest sustainably. If deforestation continues, millions of tons of CO2 will be released - with serious consequences for the earth. By giving the Ribeirinhos official land rights, agricultural companies are no longer allowed to occupy the area. Around 3,000 hectares of rainforest can thus be permanently saved from destruction by agricultural companies and managed in a resource-conserving way.
Agriculture is flourishing on the picturesque island province of Hainan - and there is plenty of potential for ecological action here.
Through our subsidiary in Shanghai, as well as business partnerships with Asian companies, we maintain a lively exchange with the Middle Kingdom. To make a difference at the local level, we support the biogas project in Haikou. With success: around 15,555 small farmers from 20 communities in the city of Haikou have so far been able to set up small-scale biogas plants for their own use. Each household keeps an average of 2.5 pigs. Their manure is fed into the eight-cubic-metre fermenters. In the closed biogas tanks, organic matter such as manure and waste is broken down anaerobically. The biogas produced in the digesters is used to cook meals and boil water. This replaces the use of coal stoves which was common before the project.
By 2050, there will be more plastic than marine life in the oceans. But the blue planet is getting help worldwide.
We see the protection of the oceans as one of the most urgent global tasks. The Plastic Bank project is setting a social as well as an ecological example against pollution under the motto “Plastic for Money". Over 8 million tons of plastic waste end up in the world's waters every year. Especially in developing countries, the infrastructure for proper disposal is often lacking. For example, people in Haiti, Indonesia, Brazil or the Philippines collect plastic waste, which they can exchange for money, food, drinking water, mobile phone credits or school fees at local collection points. The collected plastic is recycled and turned into so-called social plastic. This serves as raw material for new products and is gently reintegrated into the commodity cycle.