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Sustainable with own forest

“What does it really mean to be CO2 neutral? If we look at our production, we’re CO2 neutral. But it’s really just an isolated part of something much bigger. A wind turbine has been built that produces the electricity we use, which takes up a rather large area where there could be forest instead. What’s more, the wind turbine affects wildlife, nature and people in the vicinity. How sustainable is it really?

Jens Ringborg’s commitment to sustainability and the environment is unmistakable. As a purity manager at Gnosjö Automatsvarvning, one of his many responsibilities includes the washing and purity analysis of the components they lathe themselves and what they wash for other companies. As a member of the family who own the company, he’s thought a lot about how they work with sustainability and how the issue is debated in society.

“I was at a conference a while back where terms and abbreviations were thrown around all over the place, but what it all boiled down to was the fact that you could offset air and car journeys through climate compensating.

Climate compensating or climate financing simply means that you as a company pay for your greenhouse gas emissions. The money then goes to support developing countries with worse conditions than Sweden, for example, to develop sustainably.

“It’s a sound idea and there’s a lot of good things about climate compensation, but it has to be matched with actual environmental work in industry itself. I think it’s easy for companies today to be able to say they’re carbon neutral. In my opinion it’s not enough to buy carbon credits, measure emissions or have strategies to improve. More action is needed.

According to the European Parliament, carbon neutrality “…means having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks. In order to achieve net zero emissions, all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions will have to be counterbalanced by carbon sequestration.” To offset the emissions, carbon sinks that take up more carbon dioxide than they release, such as forests, are required. This is exactly what Jens and Gnosjö Automatsvarvning want to contribute to.

“We will of course continue to produce our electricity with roof mounted solar panels and the wind turbines we co-own, but we’re now investigating the possibilities of buying forests too. Perhaps up to 100 hectares with the aim of managing it for the benefit of biodiversity and absorbing CO2.

Jens believes that their own forest is one way to ensure their own carbon sink, as well as a way to contribute to the important biodiversity by not regarding it as a production forest to be felled. He also likes the collaboration between primary and secondary schools and colleges and universities. The young children get a school forest they can learn and play in while the older students can study how to work with sustainability and biodiversity.

“We would also like to see an organisation like the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation potentially asking for five hectares of wetland forest for one of their projects. Another idea is to offer the customers the opportunity to buy shares in our CO2 sink as part of the agreement with us. If more industries start thinking in this way, maybe the large forest companies would get more value from the forests by leaving them standing instead of cutting them down,” laughs Jens.

Jens ends the conversation by giving sustainability reports the thumbs up. Yes, even the one you’re reading right now. Why do a sustainability report? To gain competitive advantages, satisfy legal requirements, to continue doing what you do, give yourself a pat on the back, or actually help customers in making the right choice, thereby really contributing to the global aim to reverse the trend.

“We want to be part of the change for the better. That’s why we’re investing both a lot of money and time and thinking long-term. The idea of investing in a forest has a perspective of well over 100 years. I think that both society and businesses need to start thinking outside the box and on a grander scale if we’re going to succeed in achieving national and global goals.”

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