The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., the corporate social responsibility arm of the conglomerate, and the asset and wealth manager ATRAM Group had teamed up to lead a carbon sequestration project through tree planting in Borbon, Cebu.

Through RAFI's One-To-Tree program, the partnership planted 5,000 fruit tree seedlings in a program aimed at not just planting seedlings but also nurturing them into maturity, and making them contribute towards carbon neutrality.

Once the seeds grow and become fruit-bearing, the program is also expected to support local employment and food security.

The activity marks the first of many projects under ATRAM's CSR program, where it had adopted three of the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals including Goal #13 which is Climate Action.

"It's something that we look forward to doing more of because it's something that's entrenched in the company's core propositions, which is really about sustainability, nurturing, and growing together," shares ATRAM chief revenue officer, Marcy Kohchet-Chua.

"When we talk about investing, we're not talking about things that happen overnight. These are things intended for the long term–and that's where we want to take this partnership and program."

Birth trees

According to Kohchet-Chua, each tree planted also marked milestone birthdays of their clients, furthering the company's goal of nurturing relationships with their clientele.

Born out of the goal to slow down the effects of harmful illegal logging practices, One To Tree's vision is to revive biodiversity in the Philippines through planting native trees in various locations around the Philippines. "Trees are (the) main source in converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. In our case we're planting fruit trees, which now provides us with food and sustenance," explains RAFI chief financial officer, Carlos Kahn, on the benefits of the foundation's tree-planting initiative. According to RAFI, native trees provide better flora to the area around them, support endangered and other wildlife species, and help impede erosion.

"We want to collaborate with foundations and folks that do good work and that's our main purpose," says ATRAM chief executive officer, Phillip Hagedorn. "There is no better symbol of a good investment than a tree. From a small seed, the investment of time and resources to grow while managing risks (such volatile weather) can bear fruit via good returns that the next generation can use to build their future better."