Sustainability in sports: Absa Kip Keino Classic stakeholders plant 2500 trees

Athletics Kenya (AK) partnered with Absa Bank Kenya, Safaricom, Kenya Forestry Service and Stockholm Environment Institute to plant over 2,500 trees at Kasarani Stadium on the side-lines of the just concluded 2023 Absa Kip Keino Classic tournament.

Athletics Kenya President Lt. Gen. (Rd) Jackson Tuwei thanked Kip Keino Classic title sponsors Absa Bank and its partners for championing the intiative, adding it would positively contribute to the environment and improve conditions of performance for the current and the next generation of athletes.

“Athletes need a good environment and clean air to train optimally and to enable them to give good performances in competitions. We believe that this initiative will have a long term positive impact to the generations to come,” said Tuwei.

Speaking during the tree planting occasion, Absa Bank’s Head of Sustainability, Communications and Corporate Relations, Charles Wokabi said the initiative aligns with the bank’s sustainability commitments and complements the ongoing government's 15 billion tree planting agenda.

"As an active force for good, we care about the communities around us and the environment in which we operate. We are thus leveraging the love of athletics, a passion point for many Kenyans, to promote eco-friendly practices and mindsets, while also utilising the power of sports and partnerships to raise awareness and take action against climate change.

“As an organisation, we have a wider commitment to plant 10 million trees by 2025 and targets to become a net zero organisation by 2040," added Mr. Wokabi.

On her part, Safaricom’s Director of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, Karen Basiye, said, “As a business, we have a commitment to be net zero by 2030 and part of our commitment is to grow 5 million trees across the country.”