WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING*<*HOW YOU CAN HELP A CommitmentTo Fight Climate Change (NAPSA)—Climate change continuesto be oneof the biggest, most challenging problems the planet faces, and a few forward-thinking companies are making the commitment to reduce their impact. These companies are making changes in several ways, including adopting aggressive plans to reduce their carbon emissions by reducing the energy they use to manufacture their products, and offering carbon-negative products. For example, Fiji Water has entered into a partnership with Conservation International, a leading conservation organization. The premium bottled water company wanted to know how it could reduce its CO, emissions that con- tribute to global warming. Company leaders were also interested in protecting and preserving the Sovi Basin, the largest remaining area of pristine rain forest in Fiji. Over the next three years, the company will implement an environmental program that seeks to “green” every step in thelife cycle of its products, from packaging and shipping to the use of renewable energies and land-preservation efforts. By 2010, this plan is expected to result in a 25 percent reduction in actual CO, emissions. In addition, the company will work to develop forest carbon and renewable energy projects that are expected to add upto at least 120 percent of their remaining productlife-cycle emissions. ICF International, a global leader in analyzing emissions inventories and providing advice The Sovi Basin contains the largest remaining area of pristine rain forest in Fiji and one company is working to protectit. on climate strategy, will independently review and verify the company’s carbon footprint. Protecting rain forests like the Sovi Basin in Fiji from logging can have a positive benefit to the environment. Each year, tropical forests covering an area at least equal to the size of New York state are destroyed; the carbon dioxide that those trees would have absorbed amounts to 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting the Sovi Basin from logging will prevent 10 million tons of CO, from being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of taking nearly 2 million cars off the road. “We’re excited to expand our environmental leadership so that our consumers can continue to enjoy our great-tasting, mineral- rich, natural artesian water, knowing that it comes with a commitment and promise to do something positive for the climate and our environment,” said Thomas Mooney, senior vice president of Fiji Water.
