Reversing Climate Change: Consume Soil-Friendly Foods, Harvest Rainwater and Grow Forests

What is driving the climate change crisis? A huge factor is the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption that lead to the loss of biodiversity and nature, along with higher levels of waste and pollution.

The annual World Environment Day on June 5, led by the UN Environment Programme, reminds us of impending environmental issues. This year’s theme, “Our Land. Our Future,” raised awareness of the critical need for collective action to combat climate change, protect biodiversity, and restore lands and ecosystems.

In this blog, we will delve into the importance of responsible business and the Apollo approach to climate change.

The Urgency for Ecosystem Restoration

There is a global urgency to revive damaged ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and wetlands. Most progressive countries are showcasing how restoration delivers a multitude of environmental benefits, including increased productivity, carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation. In addition, the revival of damaged ecosystems is speculated to yield up to US$30 in ecosystem services for every dollar spent. Surely, these benefits could motivate responsible businesses towards achieving a few Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to the reversal of nature loss and climate change.

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture

The first step to effective ecosystem restoration begins with your plate. The way we produce and consume food is driving over 80% of biodiversity loss.

Globally, at least 2 billion people, particularly low-income and rural populations, depend on the agricultural sector for livelihoods. Unfortunately, our current food systems are unsustainable and act as a prime driver of land degradation.

At Apollo Tyres, we work with rural communities to make agriculture more sustainable. One example is providing financial and technical support for sustainable agriculture practices for small-scale farmers. As a result, the Government of India’s Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare certified 304 farmers who were trained by us in organic farming in the last fiscal year.

We also promote sustainable farming techniques by encouraging farmers to retain traditional crop varieties for their nutritional value, drought and pest resistance, and adaptation to climate change.

Perhaps sustainable farming will not be truly achieved until we revive water sources and improve water-use efficiency. It is alarming to see freshwater ecosystems disappearing at such a fast rate and degraded by pollution, climate change, overfishing, and over-extraction. It is a critical issue to tackle as freshwater ecosystems supply food and water to billions of people, protect us from drought and floods, and provide habitat for countless plants and animals.

This is why we are conscious of how we use water at Apollo Tyres. We have committed to improving our water withdrawal efficiency to 25% by FY26 and have invested in holistic and integrated water resource management plans within and outside the fence. This entails considering the water cycle: from source to distribution, economic use, treatment, recycling, reuse, and return to the environment.

Tackling Climate Change the Apollo Way

In the communities surrounding our plants, we have been working with the locals to restore and maintain ponds and conserve mangroves by replanting native vegetation and afforestation projects.

Moreover, we have also recognised the importance of redesigning our products to adhere to our environmental commitments and reduce the mounting pressure of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Thus, we have made a commitment to using recycled and renewable input materials in all our products.

Finally, I would like to emphasise that as a responsible business, we must invest in nature-based solutions as a crucial step to becoming Net Zero by 2050.

We have integrated biodiversity restoration into our business model by positioning it as a global initiative and have pledged to conserve and plant 1.05 million trees with?1t.org, a part of the World Economic Forum, to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. I am positive that we, as Apolloites and individuals, will work in unison to forge a more sustainable world for generations to come.

Let us Go The Distance together to protect our earth and become Generation Restoration.