Exactly one year ago, the Luxembourgish branch of Global Wealth Manager UBS first partnered up with the foundation Hëllef fir d’Natur of natur&ëmwelt to plant its first forest in the Grand-Duchy. Throughout the year, the bank’s volunteers dedicated their time to carefully groom the proud 5,000 m2 landmark in Groussbus to make sure the trees had the ideal conditions for a healthy growth.

And simultaneously, the ambitions of UBS in Luxembourg continued to grow as well. This month, a new UBS forest was born in Salzdelt, close to Clervaux, for which more than 100 employees of the bank volunteered to plant and sponsor 2’500 trees over two days. The variety of regional saplings – sponsored by the bank for each client deciding to go paperless on their statements as well as the bank’s employees – shall contribute to the larger goal of reforestation, biodiversity, and sustainable development in the Grand-Duchy and beyond.

“Today, it is no longer enough to simply fight against greenhouse gas emissions, but we must begin to mitigate the effects of the damage already done. We are delighted to see that companies like UBS are investing in this change with conviction.” says Nicolas Hormain, Communication & Fundraising manager, Fondation Hëllef fir d’Natur of natur&ëmwelt.

Christian Schön, Head of Advisory&Sales, UBS in Luxembourg and Partnership Mediator explains: “At UBS, we have defined our purpose, which is a guiding mechanism to how we work and collaborate. It states that we aim to reimagine the power of investing and to connect people for a better world. And this is exactly what we are doing here as well. Offering green financial solutions to clients and helping them safeguard and grow their wealth is important, but there is more to our story. As the world’s leading Wealth Manager, we have a bigger role to play within the community – be it through sustainable engagements like the partnership with foundation Hëllef fir d’Natur of natur&ëmwelt or community impact projects to give back to our community. The willingness to create a positive impact is a key part of our DNA.”

And so is leading by example and making sure UBS sets trends in the industry. In 1989, UBS was namely the first bank in Switzerland to appoint an environmental officer. In 2017, they pledged to support their clients in investing USD 5 billion into impact investments over five years to help plug funding gaps needed to reach the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Today, UBS’ second forest in the Grand-Duchy will have an average carbon sink of 5t of CO2 offset per year.