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Tag: carbon dioxide

  • Hydrogen partners Umpaya and Rotary Club to Transform E-Waste into Greener Tomorrows

    Hydrogen partners Umpaya and Rotary Club to Transform E-Waste into Greener Tomorrows

    At Hydrogen Payment Services Company Limited, sustainability is not an afterthought; it is a core value that shapes how we innovate, operate, and lead within the financial services industry. Earlier this year, we launched our flagship E-Waste Initiative in partnership with Umpaya, a leading environmental solutions provider, with support from the Rotary Club of Akowonjo District 9111.

    The initiative began with in-house sensitization on the dangers of electronic waste, followed by Hydrogen and it staff donating end-of-life devices ranging from laptops and phones to household electronics. For every device collected, Umpaya in turn pledged to plant a tree, creating a deliberate device-for-tree exchange that transforms discarded technology into new life.

    Speaking on the project, Obinna Ojekwe, Head of Marketing and Communications at Hydrogen, said,“By turning discarded devices into living trees, we are demonstrating that innovation can be both digital and environmental. This is not a one-time effort. Hydrogen is committed to making e-waste management a continuous journey and inspiring the financial services industry to embrace responsibility for the planet.”

    On October 3, 2025, Hydrogen led the planting of over 25 diverse trees at the Lagos Airport Hotel, including Palm Tree, Coconut Tree and Tujar Tree. As they mature, these trees will help absorb carbon dioxide, reduce greenhouse gases, and generate carbon credits, contributing to climate action while enriching biodiversity and supporting community food security.

    Ifeanyi Ochije, Co-founder, Umpaya added: “Recycling electronics is about more than waste management, it is about creating value, protecting communities, and safeguarding our climate future. By linking e-waste recovery to tree planting, we are building a tangible connection between responsibility and impact.”

    To secure long-term impact, the Rotary Club of Akowonjo also donated gardening tools and equipment to nurture the planted trees. The President of the Club, Mr. David Aimuihenyefe noted, “These trees will not only stand as symbols of environmental stewardship but will also contribute to healthier ecosystems and better livelihoods for years to come.”

    For Hydrogen and partners, this is more than an initiative; it is a declaration that the future of payments, technology and business at large must be sustainable. Every recycled device and every planted tree is a step towards reducing carbon emissions and building a greener tomorrow.

  • Two Nigerians Launch AI-Powered Search Engine that Removes Carbon Dioxide from the Environment

    Two Nigerians Launch AI-Powered Search Engine that Removes Carbon Dioxide from the Environment

    With the high spate of climate change globally and its negative impact on the planet, two Nigerians, Yewande and Fela Akinse, have developed a technology driven search engine called PAP.EARTH that removes CO2. The search engine is a revolutionary concept that enables users to be part of the solution to climate change with every single search conducted online. The search engine, pap.earth works just like Google or any other search engine, however, the key differentiator is that pap.earth is an eco search engine which removes CO2 by investing its profits into funding unknown and underfunded climate impact projects around the world.

    Pap. earth is a groundbreaking technological solution to environmental challenges that have become the world’s most pressing problem. The app is a search engine that removes C02 from the atmosphere with every search conducted by users. Pap.earth is a cutting-edge technology with environmental consciousness at the center of its innovation. It enables users globally to make tangible impact in the fight against the negative consequences of climate change. When users conduct online searches on the app, they positively participate in the removal of carbon dioxide with a single click and take a step towards a cleaner and healthier planet.

    Explaining how the app works, Yewande, a Cofounder at pap.earth said that “each search on pap.earth generates a coin. When users accumulate these coins, they can be donated to featured climate impact projects on pap.earth for possible funding or such coins can be redeemed at our partner stores to earn rewards in form of discounts.” Pap.Earth as an eco search engine removes CO2 by investing directly in climate impact projects which have the  potential to remove at least 1 ton of CO2 per year. While explaining the gamification aspect of pap.earth, she stated that “every user gets a reward while using the search engine through gamification which is a reward system where users earn rewards from our partner stores where they can receive gift cards or discounts.

    While still speaking further at the app’s launching event, Yewande orated that even though, she studied Law at the university, her profound concern and interest in creating innovative solutions to combat the challenges of climate change has been the driving force for her unwavering dedication, advocacy and leading the way to a sustainable environment awareness.

    “My educational background in law could have made me tow a traditional legal career path but my passion for the environment and innovative solutions to the global challenges of climate change and environmental sustainability, have transformed me to an environmental advocate and social entrepreneur, who always thinks proactively on how to solve our planet’s challenges. Therefore, as the planet grapples with the devastating impacts of climate change, Pap.earth leads the battle to combat these negative impacts. The app tackles the urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and transforms every search query into a potent act of carbon removal” Yewande said.

    Fela Akinse, Cofounder and Chief Scientist of pap.earth added that he developed the Pap.earth search engine with a noble mission – to remove CO2 from the planet. As someone with a solid academic background in Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Management, up to masters level, an inventive genius, award winning entrepreneur and environmental advocate. He stated that “we have to use our unique ability to bridge the gap between scientific expertise and public understanding, to empower countless individuals to take meaningful actions towards a greener and sustainable environment for humanity. This is exactly what the AI-driven Pap.earth is all about”

    The two cofounders, Yewande and Fela, of Pap.earth believe that in a world fraught with daunting environmental challenges, Pap.earth stands as a beacon of hope.

  • Feature: No Nigerian Presidential Candidate as a Tropical Rainforest Policy

    Feature: No Nigerian Presidential Candidate as a Tropical Rainforest Policy

    by Ayo Akinfe

    When I look at the way the British Tory leadership election is being dominated by economic issues, it is easy to see what is wrong with Nigerian politics. Do any of the Nigerian presidential candidates for instance have a tropical rainforest policy?

    [1] I was just checking through some data on tropical rainforests and discovered there is not one such registered forest in Nigeria despite it accounting for 7.7% of our landmass. This inspite of the fact that the rainforest forms the majority of the environment in certain states like Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Edo Oyo, Ebonyi and Ekiti

    [2] For anyone who thinks this is not important, do you know that the rainforests are arguably the most vital ecosystems on our planet. Home to over half the world’s plant and animal species, the largest rainforests absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping maintain the balance of the air we breathe, while simultaneously playing a critical role in curbing global warming

    [3] Tropical rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface but today, this figure is only 6%. Despite this, about 80% of the world’s documented species can be found in tropical rainforests. Of all tropical rainforests, 57% are found in Latin America with a third in Brazil. Other major tropical rainforests are located in southeast Asia and the Pacific islands (25%) and West Africa (18%)

    [4] Nigeria has about 10,000 square hectares of tropical rain forest. We are losing about 3% of this a year. Lagos State for instance was once all tropical rainforest but alas today, there is barely one tree left standing in the state

    [5] Do you also know that cocoa can only grow in the tropical rainforest as it needs its canopy to thrive? In Australia for instance they tried growing cocoa but it simply did not work

    [6] Checking through the lists, I found several protected rain forests like the Amazon, Congolese, New Guinean, Valdivian, Borneo, Sumatra, etc forests but none in Nigeria. We simply have not ring-fenced our forests or introduced any measures to protect them

    [7] Yam, coffee, cocoa, bananas, mangoes, papaya, macadamia, avocado, and sugarcane all originally came from the tropical rainforest and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest. A responsible people would maintain their forests alongside farming settlements to produce these crops in specially designated areas

    [8] Known as the lungs of the earth, it is the tropical rainforest that allows us to produce oxygen on our planet. A simulation was once performed in which all rainforest in Africa were removed. This simulation showed an increase in atmospheric temperature by 2.5 to 5 degrees Celsius. Just imagine the impact that would have on earth

    [9] Carbon dioxide increases each year as a result of burning fossil fuels and deforestation but the amount it goes up from one year to the next depends on whether tropical forests are absorbing carbon dioxide or releasing it. Basically, the less forest we have, the less oxygen there is on our planet

    [10] Why can’t Nigeria leapfrog the rest of the world here and do something dramatic. Ringfence maybe the rain forest areas of Ondo, Ekiti and Edo states and give it a name like maybe the Oranmiyan Rain Forest and set up a special laboratory there that can produce oxygen. Also, ban logging in this designated zone and then set a cocoa production target of say 5m tonnes. Just imagine the premiums we could charge on producing natural oxygen directly from the tropical rain forest