Organic food chain Sequoia, owned by the French BBG group since last year, has been certified as a carbon-neutral company. The chain says this is a Belgian first.
Certificate
According to Sequoia, the carbon emissions of its ten stores and the headquarters in Brussels have been fully offset. This covers the emissions associated with the buildings (such as lighting and heating), the transport of goods, packaging materials and the journeys that employees have to make. Sequoia’s total CO2 emissions would amount to 331 tonnes.
The carbon neutral label, awarded by the organisation CO2logic, guarantees that the company offsets all carbon emissions. The label has been validated by the independent certification body Vinçotte since 2015.
Sustainable projects
To offset its own emissions, Sequoia supports two sustainable projects: one in Africa and one in Belgium. The former, “Zambia Agroforestry”, supports the retraining of poachers and guides them to a legal job in organic farming. The project also focuses on the protection and conservation of one million hectares of forest.
In Belgium, Sequoia supports the non-profit association Société Royale Forestière de Belgique, which has set up a project to adapt forests to the climatic realities of tomorrow. In order to maintain a diversified forest, it is important to introduce tree species that are more resistant to future climatic conditions. In a first phase, the non-profit association wants to test new species under real conditions through a network of experimental plots spread throughout Belgium.
The new trees will be monitored over the long term, to assess their potential in terms of productivity, resistance to disease, pests and extreme climatic conditions.