DJ Thanks to a new social impact investment, REALITES is now offsetting its entire carbon footprint
REALITES Thanks to a new social impact investment, REALITES is now offsetting its entire carbon footprint 07-Sep-2022 / 17:45 CET/CEST Dissemination of a French Regulatory News, transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE
Thanks to a new social impact investment, REALITES is now offsetting its entire carbon footprint
Saint-Herblain, 6 September 2022, 5:45 pm. Staying true to its proactive principles while being "Useful now", the REALITES group is announcing an impact investment of EUR6.5 million in the BURN Manufacturing Co., that makes improved cookstoves for the African market. Thanks to this partnership, REALITES will pre-finance the production of 165,000 improved cookstoves for a total of EUR4.5 million. These stoves will reduce the CO2 emissions of more than half a million people in Tanzania. This new investment generates enough carbon credits to cover all of REALITES' offsetting needs for the next 5 years.
Ignoring the easy option of buying carbon credits, that are already available on the market, as a matter of principle, REALITES has put together an innovative business model with BURN Manufacturing Co. to generate carbon credits eligible for the Gold Standard certification and create value for all the stakeholders (360° value creation).
An investment with a threefold impact: social, economic and environmental
In Africa, the home-made wood-based cooking systems used by many families have serious repercussions on their health, their daily lives and the environment. Founded in 2010, the American company BURN Manufacturing Co. developed a concept of improved cookstoves which burn approximately 70% less wood thanks to the optimised combustion.
With more than 1.4 million stoves distributed, BURN Manufacturing Co. claims that it is saving nearly USD445 million for households, i.e. nearly 6 million tonnes of wood saved and 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent avoided.
A "key" investment of REALITES' carbon strategy
With this partnership, REALITES is finalising the carbon strategy that it initiated in 2018. Compatible with the Paris Agreements and the French National Low Carbon Strategy, it is built around the following three pillars: measuring one's footprint, reducing the intensity of one's activities and offsetting what cannot be reduced.
While implementing a strategy to reduce emissions by 41% per m² developed or operated between 2020 and 2031 (more ambitious than RE2020), REALITES had initiated its offsetting process in 2020 by investing EUR2m in Compagnie des Amandes. With this new investment (EUR2m for 3% of the capital of BURN Manufacturing Co., EUR4.5m for the manufacture of the cookstoves), REALITES is pre-financing the carbon credit equivalent of the entire spectrum of its emissions over 5 years: project management, end-user consultant and corporate management.
Commenting on this agreement, Yoann-CHOIN-JOUBERT, co-founder and CEO of REALITES, declares: "We are proud to be working with a company like BURN Manufacturing Co., with which we share the same entrepreneurial values. Together, we invented a virtuous business model, that will directly benefit the daily lives of more than half a million people. Having been the first contracting authority business with a mission in France, and after drawing up an extremely ambitious reduction plan, we can announce that we've done it. REALITES is now offsetting its entire direct carbon footprint.»
Peter SCOTT, founder and CEO of BURN Manufacturing Co., comments: "We are pleased that REALITES has chosen BURN Manufacturing Co. for its first international carbon offset investment project, and we look forward to our future partnership. With this support, we will be able to continue our mission of saving lives and forests on the African continent.»
Explanations from Yoann CHOIN-JOUBERT, CEO and Amédée BRÉTIGNIÈRE, Director of Innovation and Social Impact Strategy at REALITES (French): https://youtu.be/b2Tz0ZZgKeI
Check out all the details of REALITES' carbon strategy in the 2022 social impact report: https:// www.groupe-realites.com/wp-content/uploads/REALITES_RAPPORT_IMPACT_SOCIETAL.pdf
About BURN Manufacturing Co.
BURN Manufacturing designs, produces and distributes the most efficient modern cookstoves in Africa.
With over 1.4 million cookstoves sold since the business was founded in 2013, BURN has established itself as the most trusted cookstove brand in Africa. Not only do the products designed by BURN help to reduce deforestation by reducing the amount of fuel needed for everyday cooking by up to 50%, but they also help users save time and money, and significantly reduce air pollution inside their homes.
The BURN cookstoves are all produced in the only modern facility for the production of improved cookstoves in Kenya. The factory is powered by solar energy and the company employs over 600 people, 50% of whom are women.
Over the past 10 years, BURN has managed to grow a successful business while proving the significant positive social, environmental and financial impacts of improved cookstoves among the most disadvantaged populations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Further information: www.burnstoves.com
About REALITES
REALITES was founded in 2003 by CEO Yoann CHOIN-JOUBERT as a regional development company which develops new and innovative solutions with and for cities and urban areas, with the aims of creating value, enhancing attractiveness and promoting economic development. Thanks to its twofold positioning in the Project Management (construction of accommodation, managed housing, shops, offices, business premises, etc.) and End User-Centred Development (hospitality services, health, entertainment, etc.), REALITES develops projects which anticipate the needs of cities and local districts.
The Group is committed to the in-depth transformation of construction processes through its technology and innovation centre REALITES BuildTech, which pools the Group's technical expertise in Project Management to design projects in line with future construction challenges.
As the leading social purpose corporation in France, REALITES is officially confirming its commitment to reconcile lucrative targets with collective interest, with the support of a mission committee made up of well-known experts.
With over 900 employees and an ambitious development strategy in France and Africa (Morocco and Senegal), REALITES recorded a turnover of EUR285.7M in 2021, representing a 39.5% increase. The Group's aim is to generate a turnover of EUR800M in 2025, with an operating income rate of 8%. REALITES has been listed on Euronext Growth Paris since 2014 and its stock is eligible for PEA PME (Isin code: FR0011858190, ticker: ALREA).
Further information: www.groupe-realites.com
Analyst/investor contact: REALITES - Arnaud Tesson: +33 2 40 75 50 91 - comfi@realites.com
Economic and financial press contact: CAPVALUE - Gilles Broquelet: +33 (0)1 80 81 50 00 - info@capvalue.fr
Corporate and property contact: AGENCE OXYGEN - Coralie Maussion - +33 (0)6 43 44 41 25 / Carole Huet - +33 (0)6 03 49 67 80 - realites@oxygen-rp.com
Join Utiles en Actions, the REALITES Shareholder Club
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regulatory filing PDF file File: Thanks to a new social impact investment, REALITES is now offsetting its entire carbon footprint
=-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Language: English
Company: REALITES
1 impasse Claude Nougaro
44803 ST HERBLAIN CEDEX
France
E-mail: comfi@realites.com
Internet: https://www.groupe-realites.com/
ISIN: FR0011858190
Euronext Ticker: ALREA
AMF Category: Inside information / Issuer activities (acquisitions, sales...)
EQS News ID: 1437745
End of Announcement EQS News Service
=------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1437745 07-Sep-2022 CET/CEST
Image link: https://eqs-cockpit.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=show_t_gif&application_id=1437745&application_name=news
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 07, 2022 11:45 ET (15:45 GMT)
