Sederma and Crodarom, part of Croda International, the name behind high performance ingredients and technologies that are relied on by consumers and industries everywhere, has become carbon neutral by investing in its manufacturing operations to reduce carbon emissions and by carbon offsetting with ClimateCare through a project in Indonesia.

In addition to energy saving initiatives as part of Group wide environmental improvement targets, Sederma and Crodarom are aiding a global reduction in carbon emissions by working with ClimateCare to support a project that protects the environment and improves people’s lives in the Rimba Raya area of Indonesia by funding community initiatives and forest protection.

Arnaud Fournial, Managing Director of Crodarom and Sederma, said “The Rimba Raya project relies on funding from businesses like ours who take full responsibility for their carbon footprint. With sustainability being at the very core of the Croda Group culture, and also a high priority for many of our customers, I am very pleased that as a result of our support the area will remain an important carbon sink, as well as a biodiverse ecosystem, and we will help to deliver environmental, social and financial benefits to the community.”

The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve looks after 44,263 hectares of tropical rainforest and peat swamp and helps to protect 90 endangered species including the Borneo bay cat, Bornean agile gibbon and Bornean orangutan, by funding a network of forest patrols to prevent encroachment by palm oil estates and illegal loggers. The money is also supporting the replanting of hundreds of hectares of degraded land, which creates local employment by paying communities for growing the seedlings required for reforestation.

Communities within the Rimba Raya project are also receiving help to generate sustainable incomes from the forest area through the marketing and selling of goods such as shrimp paste, thanks to the investment in food hygiene certifications, product packaging and branding that has made it a saleable product.

In parallel and in line with their strong social and environmental involvements, Sederma and Crodarom continue to identify risks and opportunities by managing impacts with specific actions on raw material sourcing, ‘green’ performance… all along their value chain and organization. These principles are shared with their stakeholders with the aim of uniting them around sustainable values and encouraging them to adopt appropriate practices.