Taylors of Harrogate to receive award at COP26 for its work to tackle climate change
The tea and coffee merchant's been recognised by the United Nations
Last updated 11th Nov 2021
Taylors of Harrogate is set to receive an award at COP26 today (Wednesday 10 November 2021) for its efforts to tackle climate change.
The company has been named as one of 11 winners of the UN Global Climate Action Awards for their programme to help combat climate change, improve farmer livelihoods and ensure a long-term supply of quality tea and coffee.
The tea and coffee merchant met with growers in Kenya to discuss what impact climate change is having on crops and how production in the future could be affected.
Simon Hotchkin, Head of Sustainably Development, is accepting the award on behalf of the company at the summit today.
He said: "The project was born out of our concern for our brew in the future. Tea and coffee is at risk due to increasing weather patterns and drought. None of this is good for our growers.
"We talk a lot to tea and coffee farmers across the world so we wanted to achieve carbon neutrality but also make sure we were working with tea and coffee farmers to make sure it is still available in the long-term future.
"It is no surprise that the biggest part of the impact on tea and coffee is the growing of it. We looked at one of our key growing regions in Kenya to adapt their farms to climate change but also improving their livelihoods so really our carbon neutrality was achieved as a biproduct of us helping them.
"We helped plant over two million trees and now farmers are growing trees such as macadamia, mango and avocado. Trees which provide an additional cash crop so they're not solely relying on their tea and coffee crop as their own source of income."
The 2021 winning activities were selected by UN Climate Change International Advisory Panel.
Gabrielle Ginér, chair of the panel, said:
“The recipients of the UN Global Climate Action Awards are stepping up with the kind of bold and courageous leadership we need to see much more of to avoid the ever-worsening impacts of climate change”.
In 2015 Taylors of Harrogate set about becoming carbon neutral through not just their business operations but their entire supply chain from tea and coffee bush to supermarket shelf, achieving certified carbon neutral products status well ahead of their 2020 target.
Carbon neutrality is when a company or organisation is taking out of the atmosphere all of the carbon they put in.
Their Harrogate headquarters are powered by gas and electricity from 100% renewable sources and they buy energy from wind, solar and biomass.
They also worked in partnership with Natural Capital Partners, TIST (The International Small Group Tree Planting Programme) and colleagues at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), to encourage farmers to plant fruit and nut trees on their tea farms.
These trees help the environment by soaking up carbon, but they also provide valuable secondary income, along with shade and food.
It has led to the planting of nearly two million trees on and around Mt. Kenya with over 7000 farmers.