In our Cutting the Carbon section we explained what we're doing to reduce our carbon emissions. But we want to do more. We've looked at the pros and cons of carbon off-setting the emissions that we can't eliminate which appears to have become standard within the business sector. In the absence of any clear consensus as to whether such an approach actually delivers benefit in terms of carbon reductions, we decided that we needed to invest more innovatively in other initiatives instead.
We're going to focus on two projects - one global, one local - that address fundamental causes of carbon emissions and through which we can invest to make a difference.
We think this will have other benefits around the wider challenge of sustainability including, for example, biodiversity, habitat protection and local community development. In the longer term, these projects will provide a compelling means of engaging our employees, customers and other stakeholders in our carbon outreach activity, as our overall CR programme develops.
The landmark Stern Review, commissioned by the UK government, concluded that the preservation of the world's forests offers the single largest chance for cost-effective and immediate reduction in carbon emissions - so that's where we're going to be focusing our efforts.
We've chosen to work with the Tropical Forest Trust (TFT) through their new Climate Tree initiative to support programmes in the Congo Basin - the world's second largest contiguous area of tropical rainforest - to conserve over 3.8 million hectares of forest. The Climate Tree is founded on the principle that every hectare counts and that the best way to conserve forests is to give them value as forests rather than as land cleared for alternative uses. With our support The Climate Tree will be implementing proven forest and marketplace-based programmes that actively address the direct and indirect drivers of deforestation.
Scott Poynton, Tropical Forest Trust's Executive Director
"The world's forests contain more carbon than the entire atmosphere and play a vital (though not yet completely understood) role in controlling our climate. Yet approximately 13 million hectares are being destroyed every year (that's the equivalent of a football pitch every second). Forest clearance and burning is releasing huge quantities of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere - only the energy sector contributes more. Over 19 million tonnes of CO2 enter the atmosphere from deforestation every day - tens times more than the whole of the UK emits in a year!
International policymakers are deliberating over the appropriate international frameworks to combat this problem. But in the meantime, forests are disappearing and our capacity to take the strong action demanded by the Stern Review is ebbing away.
The business community can play a vital role here and Virgin Media has chosen to respond strongly and directly by supporting efforts that are combating tropical deforestation as we speak. And don't forget, as well as the carbon issue, deforestation threatens the people, plants and animals that depend on forest ecosystems and services for survival. So, Virgin Media's support for our Climate Tree initiative means it's directing its efforts where they're most needed - in the forests themselves."
Our second area of concern is more UK focused and involves promoting low carbon lifestyles in the home. Given that we've got over 5 million residential customers we feel we can really play a part in influencing change. We're partnering with the Sustainable Energy Research Group at Southampton University who are monitoring and reporting on energy usage patterns across a number of 'eco-homes' that deploy solar power generation.
With our support, the project will track the use of this renewable energy alongside the behaviour of the residents in the interests of generating greater energy efficiency. We want to use the results of this project to explore ways of engaging and incentivising our customers around the principle of low carbon living and promoting, more widely, the benefits of renewable technologies. It's early days but we're excited at the potential carbon benefits this could deliver (keep an eye on our website for regular updates).
