Etihad Airways in collaboration with Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has launched the Etihad Mangrove Forest to provide guests, corporate accounts and partners the ability to adopt mangroves in Abu Dhabi to reduce their carbon footprint.
In line with the Abu Dhabi Mangrove initiative by EAD, the Etihad Mangrove Forest is the culmination of multiple joint programs between Etihad, EAD, Jubail Island, The Storey Group and other partners to support mangrove conservation projects in the nation and develop new carbon sinks and natural resources to remove carbon from the atmosphere under the principle “Abu Dhabi for the World”.
Following the launch of the Abu Dhabi Mangrove initiative, the organizations are aligned under an ongoing MoU to combat local and national environmental goals, including decarbonization, waste management and single-use plastics reduction. Biodiversity is the next step for Etihad to explore the promotion of conservation efforts for the native mangroves of the UAE.
Tony Douglas Group CEO Etihad Aviation Group
“The Etihad Mangrove Forest is the next step in our sustainability journey to ensure our responsibility to remove carbon from the atmosphere is progressing. Even with the best-case scenario global decarbonization drive, we will still need to remove 6-10 Gigatonne (Gt) of CO2 per year by 2050 to stay below 1.5 °C global warming. The Etihad Mangrove Forest will contribute to this task and we invite and encourage our guests and partners to join us on this journey.”
Globally, mangroves store approximately 6.4 billion tons of carbon, almost four times more than other terrestrial forests. At a rate of just more than 12kg a year, the average mangrove captures over 300kgs of CO2 in its 25-year lifetime, helping to fight the effects of climate change such as coral bleaching and coastline degradation, and support biodiversity and wildlife.
Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary-General, EAD, said that “Abu Dhabi Mangrove Program aims to establish the emirate as a global hub for research and innovation in support of the conservation of mangroves. Through the program we aim to streamline all mangrove efforts launched from Abu Dhabi under one umbrella, to assist in achieving the government goals to reach net-zero by 2050.”
Etihad Guest Members will be able to invest in the Etihad Mangrove Forest using Etihad Guest Miles in the Reward Shop from March, while a range of additional options to meet corporate partner requirements and provide bundled-offset options packaged within the ticket for individual travelers are being developed.
