Mobilizing and supporting the growth of 1 million trees for ecosystem restoration.
Pledge by ReNew Energy Global PLC
This pledge will take place from 2022 to 2030
Pledge overview
As a pure play renewable energy company with a robust sustainability ethos at the core of its operations, ReNew fully resonates with the mission of 1t.org.
From a core operations perspective, ReNew is committed to ensuring minimisation of the impact on local biodiversity throughout the lifecycle of all its project. ReNew has adopted a proactive approach towards biodiversity management as part of its Quality, Health, and Environment (QHSE) policy.
ReNew also acknowledges the need to go beyond its immediate operations to contribute to the global sustainability agenda. Towards this, ReNew announced a plantation target of 100,000 trees for its areas of operations on 5th June 2022. In a bid to scale this effort and cement its support to the 1t.org community, ReNew is pledging to restore and grow 1 million trees by 2030. ReNew will be looking for afforestation across and within its areas of operations across 10 states in India along with working with sub-national governments in regions such as Madhya Pradesh and other states to restore degraded forests. From a socio-economic front, ReNew will engage different sections of society by deploying capacity building sessions for farmers on agroforestry, livelihood development trainings for women led forestry/horticulture enterprises and advocacy workshops for empowering the youth to be ReNew forest ambassadors.
The project (afforestation, restoration and community engagement) will be directly financed by ReNew in the short-term and by carbon financing in the long-term. ReNew will register its projects on VERRA, Gold Standard, and other such third-party accreditation bodies to mobilize carbon finance and ensure verifications and audits.
Actions in this pledge
Restoring and growing trees and forest landscapes - 1 million trees
- Reforestation
- Agroforestry
The programme will focus on mobilizing and supporting afforestation and restoration of trees and reclaiming degraded forests in partnership with sub-national governments. ReNew will undertake feasibility studies by 2023-24 to identify specific geographies and partnerships to ensure plantation of 1 million trees by 2030.
Broad timelines for execution would look like the following:
- FY23-24: Feasibility study and baseline assessments
- FY26-27: Plantation of 500,000 trees
- FY29-30: Plantation of an additional 500,000 trees
The plantation projects will be registered on third party accreditation platforms such as VERRA and Gold standard for utilizing the carbon finance mechanism and ensuring effective monitoring and verification.
Enabling activities for trees and forest landscapes
- Education and capacity building
- Community mobilisation
- Youth engagement
The programme will engage different sections of communities such as farmers, youth, and women. The following activities will be carried out throughout the course of the programme.
- Capacity building sessions for farmers on agroforestry
- Livelihood development trainings for women led forestry/horticulture enterprises
- Advocacy sessions for youth for maintaining plantations
The programme will use the carbon finance mechanism to mobilise farmers and other sections of the community and ensure sharing of benefits.
Our ecologically and socially responsible approach
Selecting indigenous species in coordination with local forest departments and working with the sub-national governments and local communities for ensuring ecological and economic benefits to the society at large. We will ensure the following best practices in our plantation program:
- Measurable outcomes which are verifiable independently
- Survival and permanence
- Stakeholder consultations
- Community engagement for farmers, women, and youth
- Carbon rights and benefit sharing with communities
Our results tracking
The programme will undertake feasibility studies, baseline assessment and end-line impact assessments by third parties to track and report the ecological and social metrics. Frameworks such as the OECD impact measurement and SRoI - social return on investments will be used to monitor the impact.
Ecological metrics
- No. of trees planted
- No. of trees survived
- No. of hectares of degraded forests reclaimed
- Plantation of indigenous species
Social metrics
- Co-benefit sharing with farmer community
- Women led horticulture enterprises for livelihood enhancement
Our system of accreditation
ReNew will register its projects on VERRA, Gold Standard, and other such third-party accreditation bodies to mobilze carbon finance and ensure verifications and audits.
Our partners
ReNew Foundation will be the lead implementation partner for ReNew, while relying on local plant suppliers, sub-national governments, and other civil society organizations on the ground to drive implementation.
Our locations
We are working at locations across India.
ReNew will be looking for afforestation across and within its areas of operations across 10 states in India – Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttaranchal.
In addition to this, ReNew will also work with sub-national governments in regions such as Madhya Pradesh and other states to restore degraded forests.
