By Kasey Krifka, The Climate Trust
April 16, 2014

As a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management, CH2M HILL has their hands full in helping a wide spectrum of clients from varied industries to achieve success. For almost a decade, CH2M HILL’s Sustainability Program has focused on measuring the environmental impacts that occur as a regular part of doing business and making efforts to reduce their footprint.

Organizational abatement programs include teleworking, flexible schedules, and alternative commuting benefits, in addition to energy and water reduction strategies. After implementing reduction efforts, CH2M HILL chose to mitigate their impact by purchasing certified offsets, including 5,300 verified carbon units (VCUs) from The Climate Trust’s Afognak forestry project. Their investment in Afognak is equivalent to preventing 1,900 tons of waste from being sent to the landfill.

Afognak Island has a long and rich history with a landscape to match. Environmental benefits abound from the implementation of the project, including the prevention of air pollution and land disruption from timber logging. Afognak Island is also home to many species endemic to Alaska. The preservation of natural forest habitat is important for the continued survival of these species, including native plants, mammals, birds and fish.

CH2M HILL’s contribution helped The Climate Trust to support this pioneering forestry project that might well prove pivotal to Alaska’s conservation efforts. The Afognak Island Forest Conservation Project is a ten year project protecting over 8,000 acres of pristine habitat and preventing over 1 million tonnes of CO2 from being released to the atmosphere.

Thank you to CH2M HILL for their support and leadership in this space.