Nigeria and Austria have been named new beneficiaries in 2018 to the UPS Foundation, which announced on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 that it will award nearly $2.7 million in grants to preeminent environmental organisations worldwide.
The UPS Foundation, which leads global citizenship and philanthropy programmes for UPS, says the missions of these organisations align with the UPS environmental sustainability goals, which address creation of global standards and best practices as well as other issues such as renewable energy sources and reducing its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from global ground operations.
This announcement comes after The UPS Foundation recently awarded $10 million in grants to 44 organisations that advance diversity and inclusion around the world.
The most significant grants will advance The UPS Foundation’s commitment to fund the planting of “15 Million Trees By 2020” in urban and rural areas around the globe. Last year, the programme funded the planting of more than 2.7 million trees, bringing the number of total trees planted to over 12.5 million – 84% to its goal.
Additionally, this past year two new countries – Austria and Nigeria – were added to the programme, with UPS disclosing that it has now planted trees in 56 countries around the world. Key partners include support for The Nature Conservancyand World Wildlife Fund’s Education for Nature Reforestation programmes.
Additional funding, says UPS, will go to The World Resources Institute (WRI) to provide continued programme support for the development of the Science Based Global Greenhouse Gas Standards and Targets. These protocols and targets, adds UPS, were used to help establish UPS’s 2020 and 2025 emissions, energy, fuel, and vehicle environmental goals. UPS notes that it will also provide support to WRI’s effort to scale the use of renewable natural gas production.
“UPS is committed to finding innovative solutions for today’s sustainability challenges,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPS. “Through our partner organisations, we’re able to have a real impact on pressing environmental issues that we face every day. This latest investment allows us to help transform markets and change lives.”
In addition to The Nature Conservancy, the WRI and the WWF, The UPS Foundation awarded environmental grants to eight other organisations, which are listed to include:
- org, to support environmental education classroom projects submitted by public school teachers in rural communities in the U.S.
- Earth Day Network, for the Trees for Communities project that will plant more than 500,000 trees in Mexico, India, Cameroon, Uganda and the Boreal Forest in Canada.
- Earthwatch, to support global education and research workshops as part of UPS’s Climate Ambassadors Programme.
- Keep America Beautiful, Inc., to fulfill local tree planting grants and beautification projects, advance community education and engage UPS employees through volunteerism.
- National Arbor Day Foundation, for continued help with reforestation programs in Canada’s Boreal Forest.
- National Park Foundation, to expand support for the reforestation of reclaimed mining land at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Penn.
- Student Conservation Association (SCA), for assistance with its National Conservation Internship Program for college students interested in environmental stewardship careers.
- World Business Council for Sustainable Development, to support public private partnerships to enhance environmental sustainability.
Recently, The UPS Foundation published its annual Social Impact Report. The report breaks out UPS’s philanthropic giving over the past year per The UPS Foundation’s four focus areas of Community Safety, Diversity & Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability and Volunteerism. It also highlights personalised stories of those impacted by grants, in-kind support, logistics expertise and volunteer hours from The UPS Foundation and UPS employees.
