Sumthing's Up August 2024

This Month in Nature and more! 🌱🐝

Welcome to Sumthing's Up, the monthly newsletter from Sumthing, where we share updates from the field and from the cloud on nature and nature restoration. In this edition: 

1. This Month in Nature: Regreening cities and positive climate surprises

2. Did you Know: All you need to know about Sustainability Communication 

3. Tech for Good: Mapping every individual tree on the planet

4. Voices from the Field: Come plant 12.000 mangrove seedlings with us in Kenya

5. Company Spotlight: Gemeente Amsterdam taking real responsibility 

6. Other News & Mustreads: Sumthing is now officially B corp certified

This Month in Nature 🌿🪸

• Green corridors in Medellin, Colombia have successfully decreased the city temperature, increased overall air quality and biodiversity and take out tons of CO2. Win-win-win! Reasons to be Cheerful
• Great news from Brazil: The deforestation of the Amazon has halved in 2023. Brazil’s environment ministry states it is the lowest deforestation rate in the last five years. A huge step in the right direction to reach president Lula’s pledge to end deforestation by 2030. 🙏🌳 BBC
• A positive climate surprise revealed in trees 🌳💫 : Microbes living in the tree bark remove methane from the atmosphere. This means trees now have an additional climate benefit, besides their power to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Phys.org
• Speaking of surprises 💫🪨 : scientists have discovered dark oxygen in the ocean’s depths. Usually, oxygen is consumed by the ocean, but scientists examining the Pacific Ocean bed found that metallic nodules on the ocean floor were producing oxygen in total darkness. The discovery shows how little we still know about the deep ocean and even challenges theories on how life began in the first place. ☄️ To be continued! Nature.com

Did you know? 🔍✨

How to communicate about sustainability? 

Sustainability is an important purchase driver for consumers. This means communicating about it becomes more important. At the same time, communicating about sustainability becomes more difficult. The recent implementation of the ECGT puts companies under increased pressure to properly back up the green claims they make. So, how do you properly back up your claims? How do you make sure not to be vague or misleading? How do you play by the rules? 

Read our latest blog about sustainability communication

Tech for Good 💻🦋

Mapping the earth’s forests using AI

Now, this is what we call Tech for Good! A recent collaboration between Meta and World Resources Institute (WRI) utilizes AI to create a global map of every individual tree 🌳 around the globe 🌎 And as if that is not enough to celebrate, all data and AI models are free and publicly available 🤩

The possibilities of this study are endless. The ability to detect individual trees and assess canopy height enables more accurate monitoring of forest health, growth rates, and biodiversity. This data can help identify areas in need of conservation or restoration. Furthermore, the detailed mapping can aid in planning and implementing afforestation and reforestation projects by identifying suitable locations and tracking progress over time, ensuring that these initiatives are effective and sustainable.

And, last but not least, and quite awesum for a nature restoration platform like ours 💁🏼♂️, the precise measurements of tree canopy height significantly improves forest restoration efforts, enhancing transparency and accountability, all with the ultimate goal to restore more nature than we lose. 🌱

Voices from the Field 🌿🪸 

A very muddy update from our friends at Wetlands International

This month, over 12.000 mangrove seedlings have been planted in Kiongwe, Kenya, with the help of the people living in the nearby villages. The wetlands in Kiongwe became waterlocked due to the extreme weather conditions caused by El Niño, but with lots of communities depending on it, the restoration was urgent. Last year, Wetlands International planted 15.000 seedlings, and this year another 12.000 seedlings followed 🤩💪 A big step in the restoration of an awesum ecosystems. 

Did you know that mangroves are pretty spectacular? 🌳✨ They store almost three times the amount of carbon of tropical forests, protect 15.4 million people and USD 65 billion worth of property per year from coastal disasters, and support 126 million fishing days annually, making them a key source of food and employment.

Wetlands International is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wetlands and is our partner in restoring mangroves. Preventing mangrove loss is the best way to maximize these benefits, since fully grown mangrove trees have the most superpowers. Luckily, we have the best partner out there for the second best option: restoring mangroves.

Since 1937, Wetlands International has been protecting and restoring wetlands. Experience is an important success factor in the mangrove business, as planting mangrove trees is a very delicate exercise. For example, if mangrove trees never grew in a certain area, chances are low that newly planted mangroves will prosper. The areas should have access to enough fresh water, proper soil and water quality, and should not be underwater for long.

So, a big shoutout to Wetlands International and the local community 📢 Let’s grow some mangroves together!

Company Spotlight 🏆

Gemeente Amsterdam taking real responsibility 💪🌎

Our hometown Amsterdam has recently introduced an internal carbon fee on travel. Last year, the municipality already set an agenda that requires the entire organisation to participate in order to become climate-neutral by 2050. As a first step in this process, the municipality increases the CO2 price for flights to €90 per ton of CO2 emitted. With the generated funds, Amsterdam invests in nature projects.  Putting a higher price on flights will not only create funds to invest in nature. It will also encourage employees to travel by train.

Even though the internal carbon fee is currently only calculated for travel, it is a great example of taking real responsibility. We are excited to see the positive changes this initiative will bring. Keep up the good work Amsterdam! 🤩🌱

Source: Het Parool

Other news & must reads 

• Sumthing is now officially B corp certified!

We already thought we were awesum. But now we are sure!

After a long (and not always easy..) journey, we finally received that highly sought after stamp as proof of that we are doing the right thing. 💪🙌

Read our blog about why and how we pursued B corp certification.

• The internal carbon fee, a better way to compensate

Are you (also) struggling on how to compensate your carbon footprint? Sumthing to the rescue!

In our very first whitepaper, we tell you all the ins and outs of the Internal Carbon Fee, a holistic and inclusive approach to build effective climate strategies, focusing on the true environmental and societal costs of your operations. Drive real change from within and transform your business ánd the planet 🌎🌱

Download it now and let’s start making real impact.

• Results People's Climate Vote 2024

The results of the world’s largest standalone survey on climate change are here. The second edition of this survey, conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford gives us very interesting insights on the public opinion when it comes to climate change. People in 77 countries, representing 87% of the world’s population, were asked their views on climate change.

Some interesting outtakes: 69% of the voters says that climate change is impacting their big life decisions, from where they choose to work and live, or what they buy. 81% of people want their country to do a lot, like planting trees and protecting wildlife. We guess Gemeente Amsterdam also read the report 😎✌️

Read the full report here.

Thanks for reading the Sumthing's Up August 2024 edition. If you have any feedback, comments, remarks, please reach out!

Sumthing