Member Article

Essex Broker Announces Major Sustainability Initiative

Essex insurance broker, Ascend Broking, has announced a major new partnership with environmental charity, More Trees.

Ascend, headquartered in Chelmsford, has pledged to help plant a tree for every policy and every vehicle that it insures during 2021. This is expected to be 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.

Trees planted through this partnership between Ascend Broking and More Trees are likely to live for 500 to 1000 years and will help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, capturing carbon dioxide and thus combatting some of the impacts of global warming.

Trees also do more than just that, filtering air and rainfall and increasing atmospheric moisture. They offer vital support for wildlife and help control flooding and soil erosion and often provide sources of income for communities too.

Impoverished communities will be involved in the planting of trees, as More Trees helps provide vital income to rural people. This could be the difference between feeding a family and going hungry.

Ascend Broking will be helping to offset the carbon that its policyholders may generate, whether that be through trips to the office, running their motor fleet operations, or something else. Through its actions, it is helping its clients to indirectly make a difference, simply by buying an insurance policy.

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 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, in turn, with non-profit organisations worldwide, we can do that. We are delighted to be involved and to be able to offer such a huge commitment to environmental protection.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jane Hunt .