SAS working with Smithsonian, Amazon Conservation, to lower emissions

Date Published:

by Wire Reports — April 21, 2021 .

SAS will work with the Amazon Conservation and the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People (HR4HP) Initiative led by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, with three objectives: stopping rainforest deforestation, improving reef health, and reducing the carbon footprint of the Cary-based company.

SAS announced the news earlier today in a press statement.

“We feel a responsibility to use our technology and our resources to find answers to the world’s most pressing needs.” said Susan Ellis, Brand Director and Head of Social Innovation Programs at SAS, in the statement. “But it is our employees’ passion and commitment to social innovation that makes it a powerful force for change.”

SAS will work with Amazon Conservation to incorporate analytics tools on the high-resolution satellite imagery taken of the Amazon rainforest, and use artificial intelligence to automate the process of determining whether deforestation is naturally occurring or whether it is manmade, and thus likely illegal.

“The Amazon saw historical records of deforestation in 2020, with 5.6 million acres lost across the nine countries it encompasses – which is more than a 17 percentage increase of forest loss compared to 2019 when the fires in the region went viral,” said John Beavers, Executive Director at Amazon Conservation in the statement. “I hope this crowdsourcing effort not only helps us put a much needed tool in the hands of local people who can stop deforestation, but also be an opportunity for people to learn about what’s happening on the ground and take action.”

SAS will work with the HR4HP Initiative, using collected data from the prior 14 years as an educational tool for improving and protecting the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR), which stretches about 625 miles.  More than 2 million people depend on the reef. The company will assist in featuring a 2021 eco audit and sharing the 2020 report cards on reef health through GatherIQ™, a free app that lets users engage with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to make the world a better place by 2030.

SAS set the goal to be net-zero with regard to its carbon emissions by 2050, and reported that its emissions reduction targets were recently approved by the Science Based Targets initiative that aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement.  SAS is also working on internal initiatives, the company said in a statement, that includes a program for employees to better understand their carbon footprint, particularly when traveling, and plans to assist it optimizing company-related travel decisions.

Original Source: WRAL TechWire