Eni has become an active member of the governance of the forest conservation REDD+ Luangwa Community Forests Project (LCFP) in Zambia

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 21 November  2019 – By signing an agreement with BioCarbon Partners, an African company focused on long-term forest carbon projects, Eni has become an active member of the governance of the Luangwa Community Forests Project (LCFP), a REDD+ Project in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Under the initiative, Eni also commits for the next 20 years, until 2038, to purchase carbon credits of Verified Carbon Standard and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard: this choice will contribute to the success of this REDD+ Project on a long term basis (REDD+ stands for Reduction Emission from Deforestation and Degradation), contributing to most of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Luangwa Community Forests Project started in 2014 and it has been managed by BioCarbon Partners in cooperation with the Zambian Government and local communities. The LCFP area covers about 1 million hectares, it involves more than 170,000 people in the local communities, and it is currently one of the largest REDD+ projects in Africa that has achieved the ‘Triple Gold’ Standard Certification for exceptional social impacts.

Eni’s entry in the LCFP represents an important step in the process of decarbonisation undertaken by the company. This year, indeed, Eni has renewed its well-known commitment in this field with the goal to achieve zero net upstream emissions by 2030 – a target that can be achieved not only through important interventions aimed at increasing efficiency and at minimizing the direct CO2 emissions of the upstream activities, but also by implementing projects to compensate for residual emissions through the conservation of primary and secondary forests. These initiatives are part of the United Nations REDD+ program, which includes projects to conserve forests and improve the natural storage capacity of CO2.

Through these conservation projects, that also contribute to the measurable achievement of most of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Eni strongly supports the worldwide improvement of natural carbon sinks, contributes to maintain biodiversity in forests and further supports the local communities by promoting the development of social and economic activities.