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With Ecologi, you can support a wide range of forest restoration projects across the globe, which are operated by our wonderful forest restoration partners.
We thought we’d take some time to celebrate our supported reforestation projects and partners, and the incredible milestones we are achieving together through collective action.
To stay up to date with all of our supported projects, why not follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/Ecologi_hq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/ecologi_hq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EcologiHQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecologihq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>.

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We’ve been working with <a href="https://www.edenprojects.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eden Reforestation Projects</a> (Eden) since the very early days of Ecologi. We’re proud to be an Ecosystem Partner of Eden, and we’ve supported several of their reforestation projects over the last couple of years. To date, they have planted over 830 million trees across 249 project sites!
Eden use an <a href="https://www.edenprojects.org/stories/employ-to-plant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Employ to Plant&#8221; methodology</a>, which has had great success in their projects <a href="https://www.edenprojects.org/our-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">all over the world</a>. Using this methodology, Eden are able to help alleviate extreme poverty by paying local people a fair wage to plant trees and manage the nurseries. This consistent income is vital for families, helping them to afford nutritious food, send children to school, and even start their own businesses to become more economically independent.
Eden has project sites in many different countries, and so far Ecologi has supported projects in Madagascar, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Kenya. Across these sites, almost 600 people have been employed by Eden, giving them and their families a much-needed consistent source of income with which to improve their lives. Across all their sites, Eden has employed over 11,500 people!
A great benefit of Eden’s projects being community-led is that the local people are interested and involved in the projects, and therefore want to look after the trees they plant. This is a key element of Eden’s projects’ success &#8211; the trees are valued by the local communities, and are therefore safe from threats of deforestation that occurs in other parts of the world.

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By planting a mix of native tree species on a huge scale, Eden’s reforestation projects are able to rapidly transform landscapes as well as communities. In Madagascar we’ve already seen some amazing progress as the mangrove trees begin to grow, restoring the mangrove forests that were once there.
The trees that are planted are also often by Forest Guards, who are employed by Eden, to ensure they grow safely. Creating healthy habitats helps to support local biodiversity. The trees can be a source of shelter and food for a wide range of animals, and native plant species have a chance to recolonise areas where they used to be found, further enriching the biodiversity of the area.

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<a href="https://thefutureforestcompany.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Future Forest Company</a> (FFC) restores degraded land through reforestation, natural regeneration, and regenerative agriculture practices. A key component of this approach is planting lots of native trees on land where trees were once removed to make way for farming.
Ecologi currently supports a handful of the sites managed by FFC: Brodoclea, Brisbane Mains, and Glenaros on the Isle of Mull.
As well as forest restoration, FFC are conducting research on carbon removal, including biochar and enhanced weathering. Staff working on the Glenaros estate are accelerating their work on the biochar project after receiving an Innovate UK grant. Biochar, a substance similar to charcoal, is created by burning plant matter in the absence of oxygen in a process called pyrolysis. This process removes carbon from the atmosphere, storing it in the biochar where it can be locked away for hundreds of years. Together with enhanced weathering, another carbon removal method, FFC are able to remove ten times the amount of carbon from the atmosphere, per hectare of land, than just tree-planting on its own.

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In Brodoclea, the saplings that were planted in 2020 are all healthy and growing well! These survived the harsh winter, throughout which planting of new trees continued. Wildlife is also happy and healthy on all the sites, with wildflowers in full bloom throughout the summer and 200 woolly pigs warm in their shelters during the winter. Along with the grazing of the sheep and Highland cows on the Glenaros site, these animals <a href="https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/managed-grazing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are helping to trap more carbon in the soils</a> and encourage greater levels of biodiversity.

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<a href="https://www.globalforestgeneration.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Forest Generation</a> (GFG) was founded in 2018 by seasoned conservationists and is a non-profit organisation that’s dedicated to protecting and restoring forest ecosystems across South America. It achieves this aim by building large-scale, multi-country forest ecosystem initiatives with grassroots leaders and communities, and equips them with the resources, capacities and partnerships needed to sustain and scale their impact over time. 
GFG regards the lack of ecosystem restoration capacity and leadership on the ground as the most significant obstacle to achieving global climate, conservation and sustainable development targets through nature-based solutions (see their 2022 report <a href="https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2645/2022-05-_gfg_final_report_to_all_supporters.pdf">here</a>). As a result, GFG prioritises the importance of long-term, high-quality projects through holistic initiatives such as Acción Andina.
Acción Andina, is a GFG-led initiative involving multi-stakeholder engagement to restore critically important native ecosystems in South America. To date, 3.7 million native trees have been planted across five countries (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile) through this initiative. Dozens of local communities have been involved, helping to ensure the restoration and protection of native ecosystems for generations to come.

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The reforestation projects we support through GFG are part of a project currently spanning 5 countries in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru) called Acción Andina, which is restoring the high-Andean forest ecosystem of Polylepis forests. Ecologi will be funding the planting of 300,000 trees in four South American countries in the Andes mountains over the next 2 years. These trees will be planted across 16 different project sites, three in <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/projects/restoring-andean-forests-argentina">Argentina</a>, two in <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/projects/restoring-andean-forests-in-bolivia">Bolivia</a>, five in <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/projects/restoring-andean-forests-in-ecuador">Ecuador</a>, and six in <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/projects/restoring-andean-forests-in-peru">Peru</a>.
Acción Andina delivers on a range of national and international climate, conservation, restoration and sustainable development priorities. Through this initiative, GFG  engages with and supports developing partnerships with local, provincial and national government institutions, universities, private sector organisations, regional and international donors, and strategic partners to scale impact and results.

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<a href="https://highatlasfoundation.org/">High Atlas Foundation</a> (HAF) is a Moroccan association and a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation founded in 2000 by former Peace Corps Volunteers committed to furthering sustainable development. HAF supports Moroccan communities to take action in implementing human development initiatives. HAF promotes organic agriculture, women’s empowerment, youth development, education, and health. 
It’s imperative to us that we partner with organisations that promote inclusion and gender equality, which are at the core of HAF’s business model. Their participatory approach to projects begins with dialogue including all community members from a range of age, gender, education, income, land ownership, religious, and ethnic groups representative of the project location.

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We’re currently supporting one of HAF’s projects in Ouezzane, Morocco. In rural Morocco, traditional gendered divisions of production also extend to natural resource management. Women are often the main food and water collectors while men often control land access. However, HAF has had important success at building the abilities of women’s and girls’ cooperatives in maintaining nurseries, value-adding activities, and exporting products. A foundation for success is the HAF rights-based Imagine Empowerment Workshops, which build vision and confidence and provide the platform for increasing self-reliance. Women (18+) and girls (14-18) participate in four-day, 32-hour, rights-based workshops (with structured activities following an established curriculum) which trained HAF staff facilitate.

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<a href="https://www.hommesetterre.com/">Hommes et Terre</a> (H&amp;T) is a private social profit company whose mission is to develop and execute large-scale reforestation and land management programs, to guarantee local people long-term access to sufficient fertile land. 
H&amp;T’s strategy is based on a win-win business partnership with local communities, which helps improve the long-term protection of the forest by instilling a sense of pride in, and fostering a deep understanding of the value of, the trees among local people. By signing a 30-year partnership agreement with the partner village, which is validated and co-signed by the local authorities in accordance with local land registry laws, H&amp;T ensures that the land and the project is protected from damage from external parties who may wish to exploit the site for commercial purposes, but the local community remains the owner of the land. The people in the partner village involved in the project are paid by H&amp;T for a variety of services, including seed collection, monitoring activities, and surveillance.

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The supported project will be located in the Tambacounda region of Senegal, in the commune of Goudiry. This location is close to 20 existing partner villages of H&amp;T in the Bakel and Goudiry regions &#8211; the team know the area very well and are experienced in working with local people in this location. In total, 250 hectares of degraded land will be restored by this project through 375,000 trees being planted, consisting of at least 10 different species chosen by the community.

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Iniciativa Verde is a non-profit organisation based in São Paulo, Brazil and has been operating since 2005. The NGO operates as a multidisciplinary project developer, promoting sustainable rural development, mitigation to climate change and improvement of environmental services. 
Iniciativa Verde’s projects are all developed in partnership with other local third-sector institutions, teaching and research institutions, and local governments and organisations in an effort to strengthen the longevity of their sustainability initiatives.

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Ecologi has partnered with Iniciativa Verde to restore a 12-hectare area within the campus of the Federal University of Itajubá, in Minas Gerais. The project actively contributes to the recovery of the Atlantic Forest, which has undergone massive human-induced degradation due to urbanisation and agricultural expansion.

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<a href="https://www.internationaltreefoundation.org/">International Tree Foundation</a> (ITF) is an environmental organisation, founded in Kenya in 1922, that is dedicated to planting and growing trees, restoring and conserving forests, and strengthening community and ecosystem resilience. 
What makes ITF unique is their commitment to forest stewardship. Key to ITF’s operation is their commitment to capacity-building within local communities to optimise forest planting and conservation efforts, and to improve livelihoods within the local community. Gender empowerment and education are also core elements of their community engagement.
ITF works in partnership with the <a href="http://www.kenyaforestservice.org/">Kenya Forest Service</a>, <a href="http://kefri/">Kenya Forest &amp; Research Institute </a>and with Community Forest Associations to ensure that all planting is appropriate for local ecology, as well as working with their long-standing partner <a href="https://www.bgci.org/">Botanic Gardens Conservation International</a>.

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We’re currently supporting a project site in Dundori, in Nakuru County. The aim of the Dundori project is to restore 200 hectares of highly degraded forests through sustainable, community-led reforestation. Additionally, the project will involve planting of trees in schools, engaging young environmental stewards in forest and school-based tree growing in 15 learning institutions. 
The project will also integrate and mainstream the conservation of four threatened tree species (Ocotea kenyensis, Polyscias kikuyuensis, Prunus africana and Vangueria gillettii (<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">IUCN Red list of 2020</a>)) in Nakuru County.

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<a href="https://onetreeplanted.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Tree Planted</a> (OTP) began their amazing work in 2014 and have now planted over 40 million trees in over 43 countries. Currently, Ecologi’s community supports projects in two of these countries: the USA and Australia. Ecologi subscribers in those countries can choose to add the planting of a local tree to their monthly subscription. Soon, all members of the Ecologi community will be able to fund tree planting in these projects too, through the new Impact Shop!

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OTP’s projects are grounded in <a href="https://onetreeplanted.org/pages/why-trees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six key benefits of planting trees</a> &#8211; cleaner air, better access to clean water, increased biodiversity, providing job opportunities and supporting livelihoods, improving health, and helping to fight climate change.
Working with more than 260 local reforestation partners, OTP engages local communities in the projects. Local people volunteer to help plant the trees &#8211; below are photos from a volunteer planting day in one of the projects in Australia that the Ecologi community supports.

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Another reforestation partner we work with in the UK are <a href="https://www.protect.earth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Protect Earth</a>, a charity planting trees on private land in England and Wales. Protect Earth works with landowners who understand the benefits of having more trees on their land, and carry out the reforestation work. Through reforestation, landowners are able to boost biodiversity (including insect populations that help pollinate crops), create windbreaks to protect crops and buildings from strong winds, and reduce flooding to maximise the productivity of the land.
Protect Earth works with volunteers to plant trees, and often the Ecologi team joins the team to get our hands dirty too! Volunteers are always appreciated, so all members of the Ecologi community are encouraged to take a look at <a href="https://www.protect.earth/events" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Protect Earth’s website</a> to find out about volunteering opportunities.

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The Ecologi community has supported tree planting at lots of sites across England and Wales, including <a href="https://www.protect.earth/projects/pantpurlais" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pantpurlais Farm</a> in Wales, <a href="https://www.protect.earth/projects/donkeywell-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donkeywell</a> and <a href="https://www.protect.earth/projects/lower-hampen-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lower Hampen</a> farms in Gloucestershire, <a href="https://www.protect.earth/projects/dyrham" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dyrham</a> in South Gloucestershire, and <a href="https://www.protect.earth/projects/howard-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Howard Court</a> in North Yorkshire.

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Over the last 30 years, <a href="https://trees.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trees for the Future</a> have worked with farmers across 9 countries, proving that agroforestry can be a great solution to some of the challenges faced by countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We currently support their work in the Mount Elgon region of Eastern Uganda.
Trees for the Future have been able to end hunger and poverty in their focus areas by restoring land through tree planting. They use their tried-and-tested &#8216;Forest Garden&#8217; programme to identify farmers working in areas with severely degraded land, and help them to plant and care for their own ‘Forest Gardens’. As a result, farming families gain a stable income, help restore biodiversity and the ecosystem by stabilising the soil, increasing the nutrient content of the soil, and increasing the water content of the soil too. The land becomes much more productive, enabling families to not only feed themselves, but also make bigger profits on their crops, helping them to support themselves financially.
A key component of the success of Forest Gardens is teaching farmers how to farm their land more productively. Many farmers rely on one or two crops for their income before they start working with Trees for the Future. Not only does this benefit the farmers, enabling them to provide their families and communities with a more varied and nutritious diet, but it also benefits local biodiversity.

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Trees for the Future have planted over 225 million trees so far, positively impacting the lives of over 300,000 people. This amazing feat has resulted in a 706% increase in access to nutrition for participants in the Forest Garden programs and their families after three years in the four-year program.
As of 1st November 2021, 391 farmers were involved in the project the Ecologi community is supporting, with 2,898 people indirectly benefiting from the project. Our community will be funding the planting of about 1.6 million trees at this site in Eastern Uganda.

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Established in 2010, <a href="https://www.weforest.org/">WeForest</a> develops holistic and multi-stakeholder reforestation projects through a Forest and Landscape Restoration approach. Their vision is of a world where communities and nature sustainably thrive together to stop global warming ‘in our lifetime’. 
Their mission is focused on conserving and restoring the ecological integrity of forest landscapes with local communities to deliver lasting solutions for climate, nature, and people. Today, they have nearly 50,000 hectares under restoration across 3 continents; and aim by 2025 to reach a total of 100,000 hectares restored and 100 million trees planted.

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The reforestation project we support is managed by the team at WeForest Ethiopia, and led by Dr. Aklilu Mekuria &#8211; one of WeForest’s longest serving team members, whose bioscience engineering and field experience sees him lead the landscape restoration and planting projects in Ethiopia. The project aims to restore 10,000 hectares of degraded land in the Amhara region of Ethiopia by supporting the introduction of 11.9 million trees, in collaboration with <a href="https://thp.org/">The Hunger Project</a>.

<a href="https://x.ecologi.com/plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up</a> to Ecologi today to help fund these amazing projects all around the world.

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How can businesses avoid greenwashing

In this guide we’ll cover…
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#controversial">Why is greenwashing so controversial?</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#greenwashing">What is greenwashing?</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#greenwishing">What is greenwishing?</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#greenhushing">What is greenhushing?</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#toptips">Top tips to avoid greenwashing</a> </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#commsguidelines">Our toolkit for helping businesses communicate</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="#ourapproach">Ecologi’s approach to avoiding greenwashing</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>What is greenwashing &#8211; and why is it so controversial?</h2>
There’s no doubt about it, Greenwashing has become a very dirty word. It’s been a hot topic for the past decade, but it’s really been put under the spotlight over the last couple of years, and it even made it onto the COP27 agenda.

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And here’s the thing: Greenwashing detracts from the genuinely great work that many businesses are doing. It also erodes trust and creates cynicism towards the whole idea of climate action. And this can have real consequences for the environment.
Here are just a few of the problems that come from greenwashing:
<ul>
<li>It’s deliberately deceiving</li>
</ul>
When businesses and other organisations exaggerate or make false claims about their sustainability efforts, the deception can mislead consumers and undermine trust. 
<ul>
<li>It exploits genuine concern</li>
</ul>
Greenwashing takes advantage of people’s growing concern for the environment. Many people genuinely want to support eco-friendly products and businesses, and greenwashing takes advantage of this. 
<ul>
<li>It undermines legitimate efforts</li>
</ul>
Greenwashing diverts attention and resources away from businesses that are actually committed to sustainability. This creates an unfair advantage, and means the bad apples get all the publicity.  
<ul>
<li>It can cause environmental harm</li>
</ul>
When companies falsely claim their products are sustainable, it can lead to consumers making choices that aren’t actually that great for the environment. They might think they’re making a greener choice, but are unknowingly making the issue worse.  
<ul>
<li>It can lead to legal action </li>
</ul>
Those accused of greenwashing can now face regulatory and legal challenges. Regulatory bodies like the <a href="https://greenclaims.campaign.gov.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green Claims Code</a> have guidelines and rules against false advertising, and greenwashing can result in fines and legal action. 
<ul>
<li>It creates scepticism </li>
</ul>
If people find out they&#8217;ve been misled, they might stop trusting the business, and possibly the whole idea of environmental marketing altogether. Their guard goes up, and scepticism towards legitimate eco-friendly products and businesses is the result. 
<ul>
<li>It hinders progress</li>
</ul>
By creating a false sense of achievement, greenwashing can hinder environmental efforts. That’s because it gives businesses and consumers a sense that they’re doing enough, when really much more is needed.
<h2>Greenwashing vs greenwishing vs greenhushing &#8211; what’s the difference?</h2>
Greenwashing isn’t the only spanner in the works. Greenwishing and greenhushing have also emerged as issues blighting the climate cause. So what’s the difference? 
<h3>Greenwashing</h3>
Greenwashing means misleading. It’s when a product, service or business is presented as being more sustainable than it really is. It tends to involve exaggerated claims of eco-friendly features and benefits.
For example, a company stamps &#8220;100% eco-friendly&#8221; all over its product packaging, but that product still contains harmful chemicals.
<h3>Greenwishing</h3>
Greenwishing is about insufficient action. It’s when a business has well-intended efforts as well as some delivered sustainability action, however, this work is unrepresentative compared to their size of business or the scope of change required to genuinely move the needle on decarbonising or creating sustainable change in a business.
For example, a business of 100 employees advertises that their only climate initiative is to plant a tree for every product they sell, without having any other carbon reduction initiatives to reduce their organisation’s emissions.
<h3>Greenhushing</h3>
Greenhushing means downplaying. It’s when a business keeps quiet about its environmentally-friendly initiatives (often through fear of greenwashing). It tends to involve businesses doing good things, but in a low-key way. 
For example, a business gives £10,000 to a climate charity but chooses not to publicise it because they fear being criticised by their customers for their charity choice, or not investing in alternative opportunities for climate action.
In summary, greenwashing involves deceptive practices, greenwishing involves insufficient actions, and greenhushing involves under-communicating sustainability efforts. All three are problem areas for sustainability communications, whether they stem from inaccuracy, insincerity, or modesty.
<h2>Top tips to avoid greenwashing </h2>
So how can your business avoid the greenwashing trap? Here’s our top tips:
<ul>
<li>Use specific language to communicate impact and goals</li>
</ul>
For example: “Over the last five years we’ve made a 57% reduction in carbon emissions across our facilities. But we’re not stopping there, we’re aiming for 95% by 2026.”
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Back up claims with third-party certification</li>
</ul>
For example: “The climate projects we support through our partner, Ecologi, are certified by the Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Standard.”
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Make sure initiatives are supported by wider operational changes (and share the details)</li>
</ul>
For example: “Switching to recycled plastics is just the start of how we’re reshaping our entire business and supply chain. Visit our sustainability web page to find out more.” 
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Be honest about your sustainability journey (and areas for improvement)</li>
</ul>
For example: “We were proud to commit to net-zero operations by 2025, but now we’re raising the bar even higher and aiming for net-zero across our products and supply chain by 2040.”
<h2>Toolkits helping businesses communicate their impact</h2>
We’ve helped over 20,000 businesses with their climate action journey, and part of that is showing them how to communicate their impact in the right way. We’ve put together several toolkits to help businesses share their good work:
Business Toolkit
Our Business Toolkit is the one-stop-shop for everything companies need to communicate their work with Ecologi. It’s full of eye-catching visuals that you can share across your website or social channels.

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Badges 
Earn badges for climate impact. Once you’ve hit key milestones, including trees funded and carbon avoided, we’ll give you a shiny digital badge that you can share with your audiences online.

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Communications Guidelines
We’ve recently published <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LRTOYVIPLp5PN5C0mBhl35OjhQNqpCnZtOQMaAkpb1E/edit#slide=id.g2954c42f7e5_0_0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new communications guidelines</a> to help businesses with the right terminology to use when sharing their progress. 
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe src="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20240118155901/Ecologi-Communication-Guidelines.pdf" width="960" height="900" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>

<h2>Our own approach for avoiding greenwashing</h2>
It’s important we lead by example, and our unique position in the environmental sector means we need a clear stance on greenwashing. Here’s how we stay committed to being an organisation of high integrity: 
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Trust through transparency</li>
</ul>
We strive to keep things out in the open, from our financials to our board meeting minutes. You can see the evidence of the impact you’ve funded in our Public Impact Ledger, and thanks to our expert panel you can rest assured that we only fund high quality climate projects. Find out more on our <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/transparency" rel="noopener">Transparency page</a>.
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">No partnerships with companies that don’t share our values</li>
</ul>
At Ecologi, we believe in inclusivity when it comes to funding climate impact through our self-serve tools and subscription plans. We&#8217;ve intentionally made this choice to ensure climate action remains accessible, guided by our belief that progress is more important than perfection. 
But in striving to be an ethical organisation, we rigorously evaluate prospective communication partners, including press releases, through a scorecard that checks they align with our values. This includes their sustainability credentials and the way they communicate about climate initiatives. 
We also maintain a commitment to not engage in relationships with organisations directly associated with the fossil fuel industry, as well as those in industries that don&#8217;t align with our values, such as weapons manufacturers and gambling companies.
We really want to help our amazing community avoid any accusations of greenwashing, and a big part of that is using the right terminology. When you <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/our-products">sign up</a> to Ecologi, our expert colleagues give you access to our helpful language guidelines to help avoid the greenwashing trap!

Speak to our friendly team of experts to find the right climate solution for your business and for our planet

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What happened at COP28

This year’s annual Conference of the Parties (COP28) took place between 30 November -12 December. Our team here at Ecologi monitored the events daily to bring you analysis and reaction of the developments as this 28th session of the parties to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) took place.
What was COP28? Scroll down past our daily updates (or <a href="#whatiscop28">click here</a>) for a comprehensive guide to all things COP28.
What happened at COP27? <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/articles/blog/what-happened-at-cop27" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read our blog</a> for a full report on the event in 2022.

COP28 - our daily updates

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<h2>COP28: what, where and when?</h2>
<a id="whatiscop28"></a>COP28 is the 28th <a href="https://unfccc.int/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC</a> &#8211; the UN’s primary climate change body. All United Nations member states are Parties to this treaty, as well as the European Union and other non-UN member states. That makes the COPs a huge event in the political calendar, where world leaders come together once per year to discuss, negotiate, and make commitments on climate change.
<a id="whereandwheniscop28"></a>This year’s COP takes place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30th November to 12th December 2023. The two-week conference will cover a number of crucial climate topics, including <a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/thematic-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate finance, youth, agriculture, and more</a>.
We’ve previously covered events at <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/articles/blog/whats-happening-at-cop27" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh</a> and <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/articles/blog/what-happened-at-cop26" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COP26 in Glasgow</a>, so do revisit our articles on those if you need a refresher on how it all takes place.

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<h2><a id="keytalkingpoints"></a>What are the key talking points in the run up to COP28?</h2>
<h3>The hosts</h3>
As ever &#8211; or perhaps more than ever &#8211; this COP is mired in controversy before it’s even begun. As a nation, the host country, the UAE produces the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-per-capita?tab=chart&amp;country=ARE~GBR~CHN~AUS~USA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sixth-most emissions per capita of any country</a> in the world (21.8 tCO2e per capita in 2021, excluding land use change). It is one of the world’s ten largest oil producing countries, with <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/united-arab-emirates-oil-and-gas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">around 30% of its economy</a> based on oil production. The COP President is Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64240206" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who is CEO of ADNOC</a>, the Emirati state-owned oil company.
The UAE has also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/01/leak-uae-presidency-un-climate-summit-oil-gas-emissions-yemen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been accused of attempting to whitewash</a> (and greenwash) its reputation ahead of the conference, including hiring a number of PR and lobbying agencies to promote the country’s image, which is often associated with strict restrictions on freedom, and <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/united-arab-emirates/report-united-arab-emirates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegations of human rights violations</a>.
<h3>Fossil fuel phase-out</h3>
The ‘High-Ambition Coalition’, a loose group of around 15 Parties including France, the Marshall Islands, Sweden and the UK, has started preparing negotiations to phase out fossil fuels. This is notable because countries and multilateral groups are not always up-front about their negotiating stances prior to the conference, and even more seldom are those stances ambitious enough to meet the challenge of the climate crisis.
You may remember this was a key flashpoint back at COP26, where at the last minute the language of phasing out fossil fuels <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/13/cop26-countries-agree-to-accept-imperfect-climate-agreement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was disappointingly changed to phase down “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies&#8221;</a> in the final cover decision.
Whether the High Ambition Coalition can maintain this phase out stance throughout two weeks of negotiations remains to be seen. What is certain is that this issue has become the most glaring elephant in the room for the international climate conferences: we all understand that <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1126931" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the burning of fossil fuels must end</a>. But the politics of the COPs has so far meant that a commitment (even a non-binding one) to end fossil fuel use for good has still not been delivered.
<h3><a id="whoisattending"></a>Who’s going (and who’s not)</h3>
In a first, Pope Francis <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/pope-francis-to-attend-cop28-climate-change-conference-in-dubai-16c50cd5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has announced</a> he will be attending COP28 this year, making him the first Pope to do so. He and the Vatican have been happy to speak out on climate change in recent years, including vocally backing the Paris Agreement and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/donald-trump-pope-francis-slap-face-paris-agreement-climate-change-vatican-global-warming-a7767751.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticising the US for withdrawing from it</a> under Donald Trump in 2020 (the US rejoined the Agreement under Joe Biden in 2021).
Biden himself will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/biden-unlikely-attend-dubai-cop-climate-meeting-sources-say-2023-10-31" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly not be in attendance</a> this year, though he did attend COP 27 last year, and his administration is known for changing the President’s plans to make appearances last-minute. 
During his speech a few weeks ago where he announced the slackening of some of the UK’s climate commitments, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66871073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced</a> that he would be attending COP28. In addition, we now know that King Charles will also be attending, and <a href="https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2023-11-01/the-king-will-attend-cop28-uae-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delivering an opening address on 1st December</a>. The King has been very vocal about environmental issues over the years, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV9n0LM63Bc&amp;t=12s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking part in our very own virtual festival of climate action</a> back in 2020.

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<h2><a id="whattoexpect"></a>What to expect during the COP</h2>
As is always the case, we can expect lots of talking points, controversies, and politicking to take place throughout the two weeks of the COP. 
Because of the fact that the conference host and key organising figures are so heavily associated with the fossil fuel industry, it seems unlikely that this COP will deliver much in the way of substantive commitments on reducing fossil fuel use. We can probably expect a lot of high-profile speeches and announcements early on, with the legal and policy commitments then steadily being watered-down over the two weeks.
There are other factors too, like a recent history of disappointment from the COPs, which so far have failed to halt annual increases in emissions &#8211; let alone begin reducing them. In the UK, with the conference being later than usual and finishing only two weeks before Christmas, we can probably expect relatively little cut-through into television and news media.
Throughout the conference, we’ll be bringing you regular updates as we follow along with the negotiations and announcements.

<h2>Partner with us for COP28 and beyond</h2>
Over the next 12 months we want to support as many businesses as possible to measure their footprint and help reduce their emissions.
If your business is interested in a brand partnership to help scale climate action or starting its climate journey during COP28 or beyond, get in touch 🌍

Speak to our team. We're here to help find your perfect climate solution.

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Meet 6 SMEs leading the way on climate action

In 2020, Sir David Attenborough said that “saving the planet is now a communications challenge”; a campaign worth embracing for any business..

Use these handy quick links to jump straight to a specific story&#8230;
<ul>
<li>Leading in sustainability: <a href="#ecosurety">Ecosurety</a></li>
<li>Helping businesses build low carbon websites: <a href="#complex">Complex Creative</a></li>
<li>Selecting clients who walk the walk: <a href="#remarkably">Remarkably</a></li>
<li>Revolutionising maritime decarbonisation: Ocean Infinity</li>
<li>Going all-in for sustainability: <a href="#climbing">Climbing Trees</a></li>
<li>Going beyond being sustainable &#8211; to being regenerative: <a href="#avery">Avery &amp; Brown</a></li>
</ul>

Sustainability can help Small- and medium-sized businesses (SME) fulfil their environmental responsibilities while enhancing client engagement, employee satisfaction, and commercial performance. It&#8217;s no longer a niche consideration; it&#8217;s a mainstream issue that&#8217;s compelling businesses to address their environmental impact.

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Regulators are cracking down on greenwashing. The European Parliament voted to support new rules to improve product durability by combating greenwashing and misleading claims on consumer labels, such as &#8216;CO2 neutral&#8217; or &#8216;carbon neutral.&#8217; Meanwhile, in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority is pursuing stricter enforcement on adverts claiming carbon neutrality through offsetting.
<a href="https://x.ecologi.com/articles/blog/climate-commitments-survey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Our recent survey</a> of 1,000 SME business owners and decision makers, conducted with the British Business Bank and One Poll, revealed that 76% of SMEs believe that having an environmental strategy is good for business. A significant 98% of SMEs that have taken steps to reduce their environmental impact have seen benefits to their business.
These range from improved brand image (43%), attracting more eco-conscious customers (38%), increased productivity and innovation (37%) and employee loyalty (34%). Over a third (31%) also say that they have benefited from increased revenue.

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Discover more about our <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230328090053/Ecologi_BBB_Report_V6.pdf">SME climate commitments survey here</a>. 
SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) account for 99.9% of the UK business population With <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2023/business-population-estimates-for-the-uk-and-regions-2023-statistical-release">5.6 million</a> private sector businesses in the UK, their superpower is their collective power to champion protecting our planet and tackling the climate crisis. Here are 6 SMEs taking significant steps toward climate action.

<a href="https://www.ecosurety.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecosurety</a>, based in Bristol, UK, is a sustainability leader, supporting UK recycling projects with transparency and innovation. They are the first B Corp certified compliance scheme in the UK. Through working with Ecologi’s <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/articles/blog/carbon-accounting-101-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-do-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon accounting</a> and ESG advisory partner <a href="https://eightversa.com/services/net-zero-carbon/carbon-footprint-for-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eight Versa</a> to assess their carbon footprint, they achieved Carbon Measured certification from Natural Carbon Solutions. Ecosurety has set an ambitious Net Zero target for 2030. As part of their beyond value chain mitigation whilst working to their reductions strategy Ecosurety funds impactful climate action through Ecologi. Their commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility showcases their dedication to a greener future.

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Helping businesses build low carbon websites: Complex Creative

<a href="https://x.ecologi.com/complexcreative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Complex Creative</a> is a sustainable web design agency, helping businesses build low carbon websites through optimising for reduced file sizes, cleaning up drives, servers and databases and so much more, which in 2022 helped save 148 trees from websites alone. 
They are also a Million Tree Pledger business, an <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/climate-positive-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Climate Action Workforce</a>® and have signed up to One Percent for the Planet to donate 1% of gross sales every year to their non-profit partners. Complex Creative is also one of the hundreds of businesses that have calculated their carbon footprint with <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a> for free. Find out more about their story in the video below:
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PZxtOw6_pNY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>

Selecting clients who walk the walk: Remarkably

<a href="https://x.ecologi.com/remarkably" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remarkably</a> is a creative, brand, marketing and learning consultancy. Their purpose  &#8211; building brands for a remarkably better world.
Now in its third year, Remarkably has been climate positive from day one, achieved B Corp certification in 2021, and invests in a number of impact innovation projects globally.  As a Beta partner of <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a>, the consultancy has been able to fully quantify its carbon footprint for the first time last year.

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If that is not enough, Remarkably has pledged to plant one million trees by 2030, <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/remarkably" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with 250,000 already planted</a>. 
Remarkably’s commitment to the triple-bottom line also extends to careful decision making for which clients to work with. A first analysis was shared in its inaugural impact report for 2022.

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Revolutionising maritime decarbonisation: Ocean Infinity

Ocean Infinity, a pioneering maritime robotics company, is leading the charge in environmental sustainability. The company deploys cutting-edge technology and AI to reduce fuel consumption and minimise waste production. Ocean Infinity have started their climate journey with Ecologi by funding tree planting through the <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/impact-shop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Impact Shop</a> and are working with <a href="https://eightversa.com/sustainability-insights/eight-versa-partners-with-ecologi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our partner Eight Versa</a> for a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for their robotic ships.

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Going all-in for sustainability: Climbing Trees

<a href="https://x.ecologi.com/climbingtrees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climbing Trees</a> is an SEO, Google Ads and Social agency with a mission of reducing emissions across their entire organisation. They have already moved to sourcing 100% renewable energy; changed their bank to a more planet-friendly supplier; reduced travel emissions with less commuting and more home working and increased use of public transport.
They use <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a> to calculate their emissions, and what they cannot reduce is offset. Climbing Trees are also a <a href="https://x.ecologi.com/business/climate-positive-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Climate Positive Workforce</a>® and a Million Tree Pledger, as well as a B Corp.
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6DLHI1FSgro" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>

Going beyond being sustainable - to being regenerative: Avery & Brown

<a href="https://x.ecologi.com/averybrown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Avery &amp; Brown</a> is a sustainable marketing agency for the built environment. They’re a signatory of the Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, supporters of The Better Business Act as well as members of Business Declares and the Climate &amp; Ecological Emergency Bill Alliance. 
Having pledged to halve their emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero before 2050 while disclosing their progress every year &#8211; they have a deep commitment to restoring and regenerating our planet. They’ve also referred over 19 other businesses to join our community!

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