Pukka Herbs Climate Emergency Declaration

9th February 2021

Pukka Herbs was created with the purpose of benefitting the health of people, plants and the planet. When we began in 2001 the science was already clear that business needed to operate in a way that regenerated our environment and society. These are the values that Pukka was built upon; organic farming, fair trade and conservation through commerce.

Based on the sobering research and statistics, indicating the severity of planetary damage caused, and the small window we have to reverse the effects, we believed it was our duty to declare a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in September 2019.

As a result of this declaration, we decided to offset our entire 2019 ‘crop to cup’ carbon footprint so everyone could enjoy a carbon neutral Pukka cup of tea. We supported three certified projects that are protecting biodiverse ecosystems or driving change in some of the countries that Pukka sources organic ingredients from:

• REDD+ Project for Caribbean Guatemala & Brazil: Protecting the forest and supporting alternative activities that generate income for the communities.

• Capricorn Ridge 4 Wind project, Texas: Installation of 75 wind turbines located across rural and agricultural/grazing lands, delivering clean energy to power 30,000 US homes.

• Sustainable City Projects at India’s Cleanest City (Indore): Converting food waste into organic fertiliser and electricity, reducing methane emissions.

Since making this commitment, we have revised and expanded our goal to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030. This means we will focus on reducing our emissions in line with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, whilst continuing to offset Pukka’s remaining emissions each year by removing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the atmosphere. You can read more about Pukka’s current carbon removal projects here: https://www.pukkaherbs.com/uk/en/news/carbon-removals

Here are some of the other ways we have committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis:

• We shared our Climate Manifesto in October 2020 detailing how we are going to deliver on our Science Based Target & Net Zero ambition

• We are supporting farmers to use climate and nature friendly farming practices through our Best Practice Organic programme.

• Our wild herbs are certified FairWild protecting wild places and delicate ecosystems

• We give 1% of turnover to environmental and social projects annually

But there is still much more to be done. We are currently reviewing our entire value chain to identify opportunities to reduce our GHG emissions, rather than just paying to offset them. After prioritising, we will commence our reduction projects in summer 2021. Although we source 100% organic herbs, we recognise the importance of continuing to collaborate with others to identify further ways to address the biodiversity crisis.

Since this article was written, Pukka continues to work hard on the activities above. Please read our most recent Impact Report for details on Pukka’s progress.