The tree-planting exercise which ended in Accra last week was held as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and commitment to combat climate change.

The tree seedlings, which included Acacia, Mahogany, African Locust and Teak, were planted in the Chipa Forest Reserve in Accra and Zugu Forest Reserve in Tamale two weeks ago.

The tree-planting exercise was held on the theme: “Greening Ghana: Planting Trees, Nurturing Lives.”

The exercise was carried out in partnership with the Forestry Commission and volunteers from the company’s clientele and host communities.

Since 2019, the company has been involved in the planting of 1,450 tree seedlings annually under its CSR programme.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Advans Ghana, Francis Owiredu, said the overall goal of the tree-planting exercise was to help mitigate climate change.

He noted that trees helped to fight the climate crisis by absorbing carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, improve air quality and reduce the effect of urban heat islands.

Mr Owiredu said the devastating impact of the global climate crisis on Ghana and other countries was a wake-up call for all corporate entities to support efforts by the government to deal with the crisis.

“The negative impacts of climate change are dire and will be even stronger in the years to come and affect our ways of living; so we need to act together to contain it,” he said.

He observed that given that medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs) were the most vulnerable to climate change impacts, it was important for businesses to integrate it into their core business model.

“Let us all invest in tree-planting because we believe that afforestation goes a long way in creating a positive impact on climate change,” he said.

Selection

Justifying the company’s selection of Accra and Tamale for the exercise, Mr Owiredu said those cities were at high risk in terms of climate change impacts “and we need to be contributing towards building resilience there.”

He said in addition to the tree-planting, Advans Ghana had also taken measures in recent years to digitise some operational processes to reduce its paper consumption by 15 per cent to improve environmental sustainability.

Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Ltd is a subsidiary of the Advans Group, headquartered in Paris - France- with a presence in nine countries in Africa and Asia.

The company has more than 1.2 million clients, with over 120,000 of the clients based in Ghana.