VW Investing in Reforestation Projects to Gain CO2 Credits

Volkswagen will invest in reforestation projects in a bid to gain CO2 credits to offset its auto production processes.

It has teamed up with project developer Permian Global to create climate protection projects for tropical forests starting in second-half 2020.

Following successful independent verification, the avoided deforestation and restoration of endangered forests could lock away carbon and deliver carbon credits that will be used to compensate for CO2 emissions from the supply chain, production and logistics of VW vehicles. This helps the automaker meet regulatory CO2 targets where those emissions cannot be avoided and renewable energy currently cannot be used in the process of its car-making activities.

The agreement aims to protect and restore 2.47 million acres (1 million ha) of endangered forests in the tropics and subtropics. VW says its first investment will be the Katingan Mentaya Project, a tropical peatland restoration and conservation project on the Indonesian island of Borneo.

Permian Global is headquartered in the U.K. and its international team works with governments and local communities across Asia, Latin America and Africa.

VW has committed itself to the Paris Climate Agreement. The company adopted a decarbonization strategy in 2019 with the aim of becoming a net CO2-neutral company by 2050. By 2025 the company wants to reduce the carbon footprint of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles across the entire value chain by 30% compared to 2015.

Ralf Pfitzner, head of sustainability at the Volkswagen Group, says: “The planned projects focus on the protection of endangered forests in the tropics and subtropics. Protecting and expanding these very effective natural CO2 sinks is an important task the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has repeatedly emphasized.”