Aviva supports Woodland Trust with £10 million donation to fund carbon removal and biodiversity projects

Photo credit: Yellow Hammer – John Bridges

(IN BRIEF) Aviva, one of the UK’s leading insurance companies, has donated £10 million to the Woodland Trust to support their Woodland Carbon Scheme. The donation will fund a number of projects at a variety of Woodland Trust sites, including three ‘Hero’ sites, which will help remove carbon from the atmosphere and improve biodiversity by creating new woodlands and restoring peatlands. The projects will begin removing carbon as early as 2026 and are expected to store at least 330,000 tonnes of carbon over the next 100 years, contributing to the mitigation of residual emissions associated with Aviva’s carbon footprint and supporting the company’s ambition to be Net Zero by 2040. The partnership between Aviva and the Woodland Trust will help protect and restore woodland habitats, promote ecological connectivity, and support local populations of red squirrels.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 15-Feb-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  Aviva plc (LON: AV), a British multinational insurance company, has announced a £10 million donation to the Woodland Trust to support their Woodland Carbon Scheme. The scheme is aimed at delivering carbon removal and biodiversity improvements through woodland creation and peatland restoration projects across the UK.

The donation will fund a number of projects at a variety of Woodland Trust sites, including three ‘Hero’ sites: Green Farm in Norfolk, Snaizeholme in the Yorkshire Dales, and Smithills in Lancashire. The projects will help remove carbon from the atmosphere and improve biodiversity by creating new woodlands and restoring peatlands. These sites will begin removing carbon as early as 2026 and are expected to store at least 330,000 tonnes of carbon over the next 100 years, contributing to the mitigation of residual emissions associated with Aviva’s carbon footprint and supporting the company’s ambition to be Net Zero by 2040.

The partnership between Aviva and the Woodland Trust will help protect and restore woodland habitats, as well as promoting ecological connectivity and supporting local populations of red squirrels. The project also highlights the importance of preserving pingo ponds, a rare type of pool specific to Norfolk, and protecting against the spread of wildfires. Aviva employees will have the opportunity to volunteer at Woodland Trust sites, including the ‘Hero’ sites that are part of this project.

The donation is part of Aviva’s £100 million commitment to remove carbon from the atmosphere using nature-based solutions, and builds on previous donations to conservation charities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Aviva’s contribution will help make the UK more climate-ready and support the Woodland Trust’s three key aims of protecting woods and trees, restoring ancient woodland, and creating quality native woods to benefit nature, climate, and people.

Overall, Aviva’s partnership with the Woodland Trust is a significant step towards creating a more sustainable future for the UK’s environment and mitigating the effects of climate change.

Claudine Blamey, Aviva Group Sustainability Director, said:

“Both Aviva and the Woodland Trust are focused on a better future for our planet, people and biodiversity. Climate change and biodiversity loss are interdependent issues and crucial to the long-term sustainability of our planet. That is why we are delighted to partner with the Woodland Trust on this project, helping make the UK the most climate-ready large economy.”

“Our £10 million donation over the next five years will not only help to remove carbon from the atmosphere but will also improve biodiversity. Our woodland creation projects will improve nature corridors, support red squirrels which are under threat, improve water quality and slow the flow of ground water in periods of flooding. The peatland work will rewet and restore bogs so that they can switch from emitting carbon to removing it and help prevent wildfires which we are seeing more of in the UK as a result of climate change. The sites will also deliver improvements in the local community by helping to improve local air quality and create new reserves that people can enjoy for free.”

Darren Moorcroft, CEO at the Woodland Trust, said:

“Aviva’s investment in nature-based solutions in the UK is a very welcome and significant act which will deliver for people and wildlife, contributing to tackling the nature and climate crisis in parallel. We are delighted that Aviva shares our philosophy of the right tree in the right place which is a vital component in ensuring we build landscape resilience, as well as protecting our woodland species which are tragically in decline.

“Aviva could have opted to offset its emissions abroad for as little as £5 per tonne, but we price our carbon credits at around six times that, reflecting the true cost of acquiring land, establishing a resilient native habitat and managing it effectively for the long-term. We are sure this will raise the stakes across the sector and encourage more businesses to consider their responsibility to future generations.”

Media Enquiries

Sarah Swailes
Head of Financial Communications
+44 (0) 7800 694 276
sarah.swailes@aviva.com

Joe Booth
Financial Communications
+44 (0)7800 698 836
joe.booth@aviva.com

Notes to editors:

• We are the UK’s leading Insurance, Wealth & Retirement business and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in Singapore, China and India.
• We help our 18.5 million customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
• We have been taking care of people for 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2021, we paid £30.2 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
• While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we acknowledge that we have relationships with businesses and existing assets that may be associated with significant emissions. More information can be found at https://www.aviva.com/sustainability/climate/.
• Aviva is a market leader in sustainability. In 2021, we announced our plan to become a Net Zero carbon emissions company by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. This plan means Net Zero carbon emissions from our investments by 2040; setting out a clear pathway to get there with a cut of 25% in the carbon intensity of our investments by 2025 and of 60% by 2030; and Net Zero carbon emissions from our own operations and supply chain by 2030.  Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
• Aviva is a Living Wage and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
• As at 30 June 2022, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £353 billion and our Solvency II shareholder capital surplus at 30 September 2022 was £8.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
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SOURCE: AVIVA