KBI Global Investors Ltd., a Dublin-based active equity manager, has become the latest money management firm to take action to protect biodiversity in its country of origin, the Republic of Ireland.
The firm paid to have about 6,000 trees planted as part of a push to offset carbon emissions produced through its corporate air travel, replanting a 5.6-acre site outside Castlerea in County Roscommon, Ireland, with native oak, Scots pine, birch, whitethorn and hazel trees.
KBI has invested some of its profits in the project, which is being done in cooperation with Ireland's Woodland Environmental Fund, said Sean Hawkshaw, KBI's CEO. The WEF was established by the Irish government in 2019 to boost forestation across the country to 18% of total land from 11%.
Mr. Hawkshaw added that institutional investors are increasingly asking how money managers are contributing toward sustainability goals in their communities.
In addition to the reforestation initiative, KBI, which has €11.5 billion ($12.7 billion) in assets under management, is also gearing up to improve water resources in Africa. The firm is supporting Vita Green Impact Fund, an Irish non-governmental organization that fights hunger and climate change in Africa. Through funding, KBI seeks to help supply clean water to communities in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
