Corporates out to save the environment through ROOT run

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Run campaigns have transformed the lives of different people throughout the country from different initiatives annually and continue to act as a conduit to many other corporate social responsibility initiatives.

It will be the same on February 7-8 when a host of corporate companies join Uganda Breweries (UBL) in a new awareness campaign against deforestation aimed at encouraging the public to plant trees to foster sustainable development and save the environment.

The two-day ROOT (Running Out of Trees) 330km corporate-run will be held in a marathon-relay format starting from Kampala to Gulu highlighting the dangers of deforestation.

The high profile and diverse runners will each cover 10km to make the 330km distance to Gulu.  The event will take place during the day and overnight with the designated runners planting trees at different spots along the way. It will later be followed by a National Day of Tree Planting in April 2020.

Yesterday Stanbic Bank joined UBL in the campaign with a sh10m offer with the bank's Corporate Social Investments Manager Barbara Kasekende saying that the campaign speaks to Stanbic's environment ambitions and that their aim was to contribute to restoring and promoting tree planting in Uganda for sustainable development.

Stanbic Bank's Corporate Social Investments Manager Barbara Kasekende (center) poses with UBL's Communications Manager Rhona Arinaitwe (left) and Head of Corporate Communications Cathy Adengo (right) during the launch of the ROOT Run Campaign at Stanbic Bank offices.

Kasekende presented the cheque to UBL's Communications Manager Rhona Arinaitwe and stated that: "Stanbic's sustainability vision focuses on Social, Economic and Environment goals where we aim to ensure we create shared value in the societies and environment in which we operate," Kasekende said.

Arinaitwe said the reason their decision to invite other companies was aimed at pooling resources together to face the challenge.

"An average of 122,000 hectares of forest cover is lost every year due to human activities. The Ministry of Water and Environment has an ambitious goal of planting over 100 million trees by the end of next year.

"We recognise that as a company, it is going to take a collaborative effort, the reason we are coming together to rally their support to this noble cause," Arinaitwe stated.