LATAM Group announced today a new alliance with the Cataruben Foundation in CO2BIO, a project for the conservation and restoration of floodable savannah and forests in South America, whose importance lies in its very high capacity to capture carbon dioxide, the conservation of biodiversity and the significant impact it has produced in the community.
Located in the Colombian Orinoquía, the project expects, by 2030, to capture 11.3 million tons of CO2 in a 575,000-hectare property, equivalent to more than three times the size of cities such as Bogotá or Sao Paulo. It will also benefit 700 families in the area and has the support of the Natural Wealth Program of the United States Agency for International Development – USAID.
CO2Bio is part of the LATAM sustainability strategy that has set the following goals: carbon neutral growth with respect to 2019, reduce/offset the equivalent of 50% of domestic emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050. These goals will be achieved through the implementation of new technologies and more efficient management, advancing in the use of sustainable aviation fuels and through compensation programs focused on the conservation of strategic ecosystems.
“With this new strategic alliance with Cataruben, LATAM reaffirms its commitment to promote a collaborative compensation model, which not only impacts climate change through greater CO2 capture, but also contributes to improving the quality of life of the communities and the protection of biodiversity”, said Roberto Alvo, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group.
The project promotes and implements conservation plans based on sustainability criteria and the historical use of the land, involving the community in protection actions, in addition to establishing good practices so that they can make sustainable use of the resources available in this important ecosystem.
In addition to the protection of key ecosystems such as continental wetlands, the CO2BIO project is home to more than 2,000 species, including 7 vulnerable bird species, 5 species of diurnal butterflies that are in a state of danger, in addition to other species in a state of vulnerability or critical danger that make this type of project focused on protecting their habitat urgent.
“In the Colombian Orinoquía, 3 fundamental elements converge for the fulfillment of the goals we have set ourselves as humanity; conserve biodiversity, protect water sources and increase carbon capture, characteristics that we share with different areas of South America and that we hope can serve as an example to implement similar mechanisms in other countries of the region, where communities are actively involved in the conservation of strategic ecosystems for the world”, commented Eduwin Hincapié, Manager of the Biodiversity Strategy, Carbon and Water of the Cataruben Foundation.
Compensation programs
LATAM promotes compensation programs focused on the conservation of strategic ecosystems. To do this, it considers several aspects. On one hand, projects must be collaborative and include strategic ecosystems capable of absorbing large amounts of CO2 and count with communities capable of protecting them.
In terms of eligibility criteria, it must be a project with focus on nature-based solutions, that has environmental, social, and economic co-benefits, that are linked to the community, that has allies that empower it, and that is scalable.
LATAM will seek to continue supporting this type of conservation initiatives of high environmental and social value with the involvement of the communities in the countries where it operates, prioritizing efforts in Brazil, Chile, Peru and Ecuador.
