Impact XM is committed to driving sustainability by engaging our stakeholders, partners, and clients on sustainability issues, and making decisions that drive future environmental solutions. The goal of sustainability, derived from the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), is to, “create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations.”
We are proud to announce a new ongoing sustainability partnership with the International Tree Foundation (ITF) as a direct reflection of the expanding sustainability practice at Impact XM. ITF has been planting and protecting trees in partnership with local communities for 100 years to restore forests and ecosystems and transform communities and lives. Over the last 100 years, ITF has planted more than a billion trees through their partners across the world. Impact XM and ITF share a common interest in reforestation, but our partnership extends well beyond and offers a direct impact on each of the four pillars of sustainability—human, social, economic, and environmental.
Human: Impact XM aims to maintain and improve Human capital in society
Social: Impact XM aims to preserve social capital by investing and creating plans and services that contribute to framework of our changing society
Economic: Impact XM strives for the efficient use of assets to maintain profitability over time
Environmental: Impact XM aims to improve Earth and human welfare through the preservation and protection of natural capital in the form of land, air, water, and energy
The term “sustainability” is broadly used to indicate programs, initiatives, and actions aimed at the preservation of a particular resource but at Impact XM sustainability refers to all 4 pillars above. We know to be considered sustainable, our practices must simultaneously address, handle, and look after all these aspects. Therefore, we continue to expand our sustainability efforts across all aspects of our business through strategic operational initiatives and long-term innovative investments.
Human Impact
As a community-led organization, ITF focuses on the people whose livelihoods depend upon local forests and the relationship between the people and the forest. By reforesting and supporting these critical relationships, Impact XM and ITF can provide continual growth for natural resources and raw materials while also offering educational programs related to how, where, and why these communities plant specific trees. By investing in the human capital of these communities, our partnership ensures the ongoing development of skills and human capacity that can support and maintain a sustainable wellbeing for the future of these communities and society.
Social Impact
By empowering at-risk communities through education of sustainable practices, ITF and Impact XM will continue to improve the relationships amongst people in these communities by reinforcing the importance of preservation and multigenerational reforestation. Giving these communities access to basic resources through this method helps establish improved equality and human rights when compared to neighbouring communities with more established resource supply chains. This approach to social sustainability also helps to create a self-sufficient natural resource pool once the appropriate processes and strategies are established for the community.
Economic Impact
Without basic natural resources such as lumber or fruit, many of these communities may struggle to grow their economy and expand their capacity to adopt new services and goods. As Impact XM and ITF continue to invest in the reforestation of these communities, the regrowth of this natural resource serves to improve the standard of living by building a resource-rich community that everyone involved can benefit from by means of building materials, food, and much more.
Impact XM is also collectively working towards the reduction of CO2 emissions through sustainable reforestation, regrowing raw materials that the exhibit and events industry requires, and conducting business wisely to indirectly impacts the collective economic stability in the communities where our offices are located.
Environmental Impact
The most immediate impact our sustainability partnership is tied to is the environmental pillar. As we continue to reforest and protect natural capital through sustainable tree planting, the trees planted offer much more than only lumber for the local communities. Depending on the nature of the ecosystem and environment, the trees selected for each community can offer an abundance of food, shade, moisture, soil protection and enrichment that extends well beyond the life cycle of a typical tree. Strategic selection of tree species can also benefit the needs of future generations as trees mature to become resource-rich investments from the previous generations.
“A planter of trees is rendering a great service to his country and neighbourhood, for while those trees are growing, they are paying a rich dividend in the form of moisture precipitated and conserved, climate modified and the soil protected and enriched.”
– ITF founder, Richard St. Barbe Baker
