World Earth Day: Renowned Environmentalist, Desmond Majekodumi, Commends Unity Bank’s Sustainability Strides

<h4>World Earth Day<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Unity Bank Plc has received commendation from one of Nigeria’s foremost environmentalists&comma; Mr&period; Desmond Majekodunmi for its consistent environmental sustainability initiatives and programmes aimed at protecting the planet earth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr&period; Majekodunmi&comma; who is the founder of Lufasi Nature Park&comma; Lagos – Nigeria’s only urban forest reserve &&num;8211&semi; gave the commendation at the Bank’s Beach Cleaning and Tree Planting exercise held to commemorate the World Earth Day 2023&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the nature park promoter&comma; Unity Bank’s commitment to environmental protection through consistent investment in sustainability programmes and initiatives has set the institution apart&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Recall that this year’s edition of the Beach Cleaning exercise makes it the third year in a row that Unity Bank is holding the volunteer initiative&comma; being an activity lined up to commemorate the World Earth Day&period; Unity Bank has partnered with 3 non-government organizations &&num;8211&semi; Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment&comma; RESWAYE&comma; MEDIC and KBG to promote environmental sustainability through the Beach Bleaning Initiative&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Majekodunmi joined no fewer than 200 volunteers&comma; inclusive of members of staff of Unity Bank&comma; RESWAYE team and the Lagos Kids Beach Garden within the Oba Elegushi beach environs who participated in the cleaning exercise&period; The volunteers picked and removed over 100&comma;000 plastic bottles from the beach to rid the beach and ocean of plastic waste and reduce pollution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Also as featured in the previous editions&comma; the Bank also carried out a Tree Planting exercise in 23 locations across the country&comma; with members of staff participating in planting at least a tree in each of the locations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking at the event&comma; the Divisional Head&comma; Resources&comma; Unity Bank Plc&comma; Mr&period; Hillary Ajuebon said that the World Earth Day initiatives&comma; have become a core focus of the Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility aimed at promoting climate action and reduction of environmental pollution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Citing recent reports on ocean pollution&comma; he decried gloomy statistics stating that&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;of the over 380 million tons of plastic produced globally every year&comma; about 10 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from different coastal plains&period; There are 5&period;25 trillion pieces of plastic waste estimated to be in our oceans&period; While 70&percnt; of the debris sinks into the ocean’s ecosystem&comma; 15&percnt; floats&comma; and 15&percnt; lands on our beaches&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While noting that plastic pollution has become one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues&comma; he said Unity Bank would continue to join collaborative efforts aimed at eliminating plastic pollution in our oceans&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ajuebon further recalled that in addition to the Beach Cleaning and Tree Planting exercise&comma; the Bank had&comma; throughout the month of April&comma; embarked on aggressive sensitization on environmental sustainability&comma; reinforcing the Bank’s culture of prioritizing sustainable practices&comma; adding that the Bank has over time promoted corporate and business philosophy that encourages low paper usage&comma; recycling and adoption of renewable energy through increased investment in solar-powered branches and ATMs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;