SC Johnson Honored with Global Conservation Award

SC Johnson has received Conservation International’s (CI) most prestigious award, the Global Conservation Hero award, which the organization presents to remarkable individuals and organizations whose environmental commitment and actions have had a transformative impact for the good of the planet and its people.

“Tropical rainforests are one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems, needed by people everywhere to thrive,” said Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “We are honored to be recognized by Conservation International for our contributions to the health and future well-being of Amazonia. Protecting forests is critical to protecting our future, and I hope that our support encourages others to get involved.”

CI paid tribute to SC Johnson’s long and rich history with, and support for, the Amazon region. The company was recognized for the decades of respectful collaboration and sustainable action it has provided in partnership with communities in the Amazon.

“SC Johnson’s bold commitment to help protect the Amazon rainforest, particularly the recent action to save 10,000 acres of Amazonia in partnership with Conservation International earlier this year, demonstrates exemplary leadership and a deep connection to ensuring the health and prosperity of Amazonia, its indigenous communities and the rest of the world,” said M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International.

The award was presented to SC Johnson at Conservation International’s 30th Anniversary Gala Nov. 2 in Los Angeles.

SC Johnson and CI have partnered on environmentally-focused projects for nearly 16 years. Since 2001, the company has served on the board for CI’s Centre for Environmental Leadership in Business. In 2009, SC Johnson became a founding member of Conservation International Team Earth, a worldwide preservation effort unifying businesses, nonprofit organizations and other participants to confront environmental issues. SC Johnson has also worked with CI through its REDD+ program in the Peruvian Amazon to engage communities in conservation, safeguarding forests and securing livelihoods while offsetting carbon emissions.

Through a partnership with CI earlier this year to support the virtual reality film Under the Canopy, SC Johnson enlisted the public to help protect 10,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest through an acre-for-acre match campaign. The campaign garnered donations from all 50 US states and 31 countries through CI’s website.

More recently, SCJ announced that the funds raised from its acre-for-acre match challenge will be used to kick off the world’s largest tropical reforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon. The multi-million-dollar, six-year project, which is the result of a partnership between CI, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank and Rock in Rio, will restore 73 million trees in the Brazilian Amazonia region by 2023. The endeavor will also help Brazil move toward its Paris Agreement target of reforesting 12 million hectares of land by 2030.