As Seplat Energy plc begins its Tree4Life campaign of planting five million trees in five years across five states of the federation, its Chairman Ambrose Ojiakor has assured that the company will continue to reduce its carbon count.
This is just as he pledged the company’s shift to cleaner energy.
The exercise has been scheduled to take place in Delta, Edo, Imo, and two other northern states.
Ojiakor, who made the commitment at the beginning of its Tree4Life initiative Tuesday in Abuja, said the company will work to ensure that it is able to strike a balance between tackling energy poverty and protection of the environment. This, he said is critical in the way it carries out its operations.
The Seplat Chairman said that the call for Nigeria to stop investments in fossil fuel was not appropriate considering the need to address Nigeria’s energy challenge.
“The real message we’re getting is that net zero carbon is not Net Zero fossil fuels. I think it’s important for us to say this, and I’m saying this because when you look at all the things that is happening in the world, there is indeed an energy crisis, an energy crisis, from the point of view that in our environment, there is energy poverty, there is energy crisis in the rest of the world, even the OECD countries where the supply of energy today is extremely expensive.
“So everyone is in crisis. But what then happens is that the way and manner we solve this problem, is such that we solve the energy problem for our environment, it is access to energy,” he said.
In his presentation, Seplats’ CEO, Roger Thompson Brown said the company plans to curate a scalable, strategic, and innovative Tree planting and Carbon Sequestration programme working with reputable partners to provide food security, reduce biodiversity loss, and support the net-zero agenda.
“The Seplat Energy Tree for Life initiative is essentially a commitment by SEPLAT to embark on an ambitious endeavor to plant five million trees in five years, starting with the five states of Edo, Delta, Imo and two Northern states.
“We will deliberately engage women, youth and communities for sustainable food production and a sustainable environment through tree planting in their communities and mindset change.
“We have adopted a two-prong approach: To advocate for Tree Planting and Protection to instill the consciousness of the importance of tree planting and the responsibility of citizens to ensure its success.
“Plant Trees – run Afforestation/Restoration Programmes with a commitment to plant one million trees annually, comprising majorly economic trees,” he said.
