Clean Water improves access to drinking water

In 2017, Teréga launched an internal programme to write environmental responsibility into its business plan: BE POSITIF. The aim of our process is to set up practical actions to avoid the impacts linked to our activities and reduce those which cannot be avoided. Finally, greenhouse gas emissions that cannot be cut and cannot be avoided as part of the proper running of our facilities are offset.

As part of our carbon offsetting scheme, we have chosen to work with the EcoAct organisation, which develops international projects that meet the standards of two highly respected offsetting certification schemes: VCS and GoldStandard. Those certifications recognise high-quality projects, operating in total transparency.

Our environmental approach involves the whole company, and so a number of projects were put to the vote among our employees. It was Clean Water’s “knock-on benefit” approach, linking health, social and environmental issues, that won over Teréga’s workforce.

Clean Water’s objective is to preserve the forest, a natural carbon sink, and at the same time improve living conditions for local populations in Ethiopia and Eritrea. At present, drinking water is not accessible in certain rural regions within those countries. For day-to-day needs, people use the water from lakes or rivers, putting themselves at risk of contracting serious diseases. So that they can drink that unclean water, they devote a large amount of their time to collecting wood to boil the water, which also leads to a problem with deforestation.

By restoring dilapidated wells, Clean Water should enable 24 million litres of water to be produced every year, saving 20,000 trees in the process. Jobs are also created on the ground to allow the long-term maintenance of the wells, and thus ensure a sustainable supply for local communities. Since 2020, Teréga has been investing in the Eritrea-based project. We offset 100,000 tCO2e in 2020, representing a budget of about €600,000.