Posted 16th January 2020
We are proud to announce that Restore the Earth Foundation Inc. have achieved Level One of the Social Value Certificate.
Restore the Earth Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not for profit with a mission of restoring the Earth’s essential forest and wetland ecosystems. Restore the Earth knows that it is possible to go beyond just protecting our environment—it is possible to restore it. And when you restore the environment at landscape scale, it creates incredible value for ecosystems, biodiversity, habitat, communities, business and the Earth.
Restore the Earth works together with partners to bring solid solutions to deliver successful restoration to meet strategic objectives. Its strong public/private partnerships support its longstanding and proven track record of successfully restoring natural systems on a large scale, creating environmental, social and economic value.
Restore the Earth Foundation’s innovative EcoMetrics Model, accurately accounts for, in monetized terms, the environmental, social and economic co-benefits/value created by restoration. An EcoMetrics report is accredited by international standards, third party verified and ready for audit. EcoMetrics allows Restore the Earth funding partners to report back to stakeholders on the ROI and SROI of investment in environmental restoration with complete confidence.
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value Certificate organisational pathway?
Restore the Earth Foundation has maintained a longstanding commitment to the principles and objectives of Social Value International (SVI), social value measurement and analysis in an effort to redefine the way society accounts for value. Restore the Earth’s partnership with SVI through the development of our EcoMetrics provided us with an opportunity to better understand and integrate these values into our operations, and formally align our organizational values, activities and culture to demonstrate our dedication to these principles.
How have you formalised your commitment for Level One of the Social Value Certificate? What practices or processes are you putting in place?
Restore the Earth’s partnership with SVI through the development of EcoMetrics demonstrates our dedication to these principles and the way society and business account for value. We commit to the full integration and operationalization of these principles into Restore the Earth Foundations’ culture, governance and operations. Specifically, we have adopted the SVI Principles to better guide our efforts to deploy landscape scale restoration to restore the Earth’s essential ecosystems. For all our restoration efforts we engage representatives from all stakeholder groups of our projects to better understand and define the outcomes experienced. We collect information about all outcomes/consequences of activities (outside REF objectives), and work to establish the relationship between inputs, outputs and outcomes of our work and we report these outputs and outcomes in a way that is transparent and readily accessible to all parties.
Are there any other specific projects you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI/social value that we can mention? If so, please provide some brief information.
Our Pointe-aux-Chenes project, a 4,000 acre reforestation project in Louisiana, which is demonstrating significant SROI for the local communities and economies impacted by the environmental restoration. When applying SVI principles via our EcoMetrics, we are reporting a creation of $15.76 in integrated (environmental, social and economic value) for every $1 invested in the project.
Restore the Earth has recently partnered with Silicon Ranch, the U.S. solar platform for Shell and one of America’s largest independent solar power producers. Through this partnership, using Restore the Earth’s EcoMetrics (aligned with SVI protocols) Restore the Earth and Silicon Ranch will develop science- and research-based standards to measure and verify the relationship between regenerative land use practices on solar farms and corresponding environmental, social, and economic outcomes. The Regenerative EnergyTM verification methodology and third-party certification protocol currently under development will be aligned with globally accepted practices for voluntary, consensus-based standards development that support marketplace innovation, including SVI.
What have you learnt so far in your commitment for Level One of the Social Value Certificate? Is there anything that you believe you will gain or find useful in the next steps you will take for Level 2 of the Social Value Certificate?
In endeavouring to commit to Level One Certification, Restore the Earth has a better understanding as to the systems, reporting mechanisms and outlets of the transparency needed in place in order to achieve and maintain the core values of a highly accredited impact-focused organization. We believe these lessons will serve us as we work towards our Level 2 Certification.
“Our partnership with SVI and incorporation of SVI principles into Restore the Earth’s core organizational functions and operations has provided critical value to our organization, mission, partnerships and results. We are a better organization for our alignment with SVI and look forward to using our work and platform to help redefine the way society accounts for value.” stated Taylor Marshall, Director of Sustainable Programmes at Restore the Earth Foundation
For more information on Restore on Earth Foundation’s social value journey, please contact:
Taylor Marshall
Director of Sustainable Programs
[email protected]
1.607.342.7362