Jaguar takes ‘Environmental Innovation’ to Kenya

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has embarked upon a new five-year CSR initiative in Africa which will see the carmaker provide 300,000 Kenyan schoolchildren with access to safe water.


The Whitley-based firm highlights Africa as a “key growth market” and has partnered with carbon offset company ClimateCare and humanitarian organisation Vestergaard for the new scheme, which will affect 375 schools in Bungoma County.

JLR’s operations director for Sub-Saharan Africa Nigel Clarke said: “As a responsible business which is pioneering new technologies and innovations to reduce the impact of our vehicles, it makes sense for us to invest in new technologies which are tackling other sustainability issues around the world. These ambitions are embedded into the core of our business.”

LifeStraw

The new initiative will see each of the schools fitted with ‘LifeStraw’ smart water filtration systems, which purify water, trapping bacteria and viruses in the process. Teams of LifeStraw staff will visit the schools each term to see that they are used correctly and to carry out further education on water safety, as part of a robust monitoring process.

“Not only does it create an immediate, positive change, it will also leave a lasting legacy – supporting a better education for a whole generation of school children,” said ClimateCare director Tom Morton.

Since 2013, JLR has supported CSR projects in 11 African countries, creating opportunities for 1.9 million African people. It all forms part of JLR’s global CSR programme, which launched in 2013 as part of the group’s ‘Environmental Innovation’ strategy. The strategy invests in education, technology, health, wellbeing and environmental projects which will positively impact 12 million people’s lives by 2020.

Green goals

Other key objectives under the Environmental Innovation plan include reducing water use by 30% vehicle produced; achieving carbon-neutral manufacturing operations through energy-saving projects, renewable energy & carbon offsetting; and sending zero waste to landfill across JLR sites.

JLR’s total waste and total water use both increased in 2013/14, according to the group’s latest sustainability report; while total energy use and emissions saw slight declines.

The company recently received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development for reducing the environmental impact of its vehicles and operations.

In April 2014, JLR completed the installation of 21,000 photovoltaic panels at its new Engine Manufacturing Centre in Staffordshire – the UK’s largest rooftop solar panel array at that time.

Luke Nicholls

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