Telecom giant Orange announced the launch of the Orange Nature Fund, a €50 million investment fund established with sustainable finance-focused asset management company Mirova, that aims to invest in carbon sequestration projects around the world.

The new fund will target projects involved in afforestation, reforestation, and restoration of natural ecosystems, while paying particular attention to aspects of the projects including the economic and social development of regions and populations affected, and the biodiversity impacts of the projects.

Anne-Laurence Roucher, Deputy CEO of Mirova said:

“We are proud to team up with Orange to mobilise more private finance towards nature-based solutions to climate change. Ambitious commitments of corporates, when well framed and designed, can become powerful contributors to a net zero economy.”

According to Orange, the fund marks a step towards the company’s achievement of its climate commitments. In December 2019, Orange presented its strategic plan, Engage 2025, which included significant sustainability commitments, including a target to reach a net zero carbon footprint by 2040. While the company is targeting significant emissions reductions through initiatives including shifting to renewable energy use and implementation of circular economy projects, residual emissions will need to be offset through carbon sink systems that naturally capture the CO2 in the atmosphere. 

The fund’s returns will be in the form of high-quality carbon credits only, and the company stated that the credits from the fund will cover a significant portion of its residual emissions.

Elizabeth Tchoungui, Executive Director of CSR, Diversity and Philanthropy at Orange said:

“Orange Nature is a key element of the Group’s environmental policy. By 2040, most of our CO2 emissions will have been reduced thanks to the actions undertaken over the previous years. Orange Nature will enable us to complete the task of becoming Net Zero Carbon in 2040, through the use of nature-based solutions that will capture the residual incompressible emissions. Nature is our shared resource. It is up to each and every one of us to preserve it.”