A forward-thinking insurance broker has announced a way in which haulage operators, van fleets and bus and coach operators can all help offset the carbon they generate, simply by buying an insurance policy.
Ascend Broking, which has a specialist motor fleet division, has announced a major new partnership with environmental charity, More Trees and has pledged to help plant a tree for every policy and every vehicle that it insures during 2021. This is expected to lead to the planting of around 10,000 trees, which would constitute an Ascend Forest, were all trees planted together.
The trees will, however, be planted in global locations of need, where battling the impacts of climate change, deforestation and rural poverty is key. Three locations that will benefit from Ascend’s generosity initially, will be found in Kenya, Madagascar and Haiti.
In Kenya, the support will assist the Kijabe Forest Trust, which plants forests that help channel water, support communities and act as a home for wildlife.
In Madagascar, the charitable donation will help local and tribal communities to re-forest a local area crucial for biodiversity and conservation.
Local farmers in Haiti will be part of the third project to benefit initially. Tree planting will help protect watersheds and improve food security and supply, regenerating just a very small part of what used to be one of the largest single wooded places on the planet.
Ascend Broking will be helping to offset the carbon that its motor fleet policyholders may generate and, through its actions, helping those clients to indirectly make a difference, simply by buying an insurance policy and insuring however many vehicles they have.
Managing Director, Matthew Collins, says: “We are really demonstrating our commitment to corporate social responsibility and good environmental governance and acting in such a way that will enable our transport clients to become part of a huge global project that will together see us planting an ‘Ascend Forest’.
“It is vital that we act to save and replace trees and, by working with non-profit organisation More Trees, and then with non-profit organisations worldwide, we can do that. We are delighted to be involved and to able to offer such a huge commitment to environmental protection.”
More information about the project can be found at www.ascendbroking.co.uk