Earth Day 2022: Planting trees to offset carbon emissions

The tree planting ceremony took place at 10am on March 17, 2022, with the entire Egremont branch taking part in the planting. The team planted 90 trees in Feather Knott, in an area that spans 34 acres, joining 12,000 other trees planted on the site already. Ray Watson, the landowner of the site, holds a High Level Stewardship with Natural England requiring he undertakes environmental management schemes that offer benefits to high-priority areas.

“This ceremony marks Delkia’s commitment to its carbon reduction plan,” explained Kurt Canfield, Managing Director at Delkia. “We’re planting a native species, Alder, which will help offset our carbon footprint. Trees typically absorb between 20-25kg of CO2 per year when fully grown, so in 20 years our trees could be absorbing over 1.8 tonnes of CO2.”

Alder was the tree of choice for the Cumbria-based business as it provides a natural habitat for more than 90 different types of insect and small bird species. The species is also resilient and adaptable in harsh weather conditions because of its water-resistant wood and thick foliage, ensuring it will keep growing in Feather Knott for decades to come. 

In its carbon reduction plan, Delkia expressed its commitment to achieving the UK Government’s target of Net Zero emissions by 2050. In October 2021, following the UK Government’s announcement, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy published a policy paper on how businesses can build back greener. Delkia’s first carbon reduction target is to reduce emissions by ten percent over the next five years. This would reduce Delkia’s total emissions from 5,168.39 t to 4,651.55 t.

As well as the tree planting ceremony, Delkia is also planning to use the area in July to spread seeds to offset its carbon emissions further. The SME is also currently working towards achieving ISO 14001, the Environmental Management System certification.