Month: September 2023

Originally published on Illumina News Center

On September 2, 11 Illumina teammates embarked on a journey up the formidable Passo dello Stelvio as part of the Stelvio for Life charity event. As they cycled, walked, and even ran their way up this challenging mountain pass in the Italian Alps, they did so with a singular purpose: to support an organization working to advance research into personalized cancer treatments.

At Illumina, our mission to improve human health by unlocking the power of the genome guides everything we do, from business decisions to our corporate citizenship program activities. Our people are committed to giving back to the communities where we live and work and are passionate about connecting to our mission. And we are not afraid of a little sweat.

The hike aims to raise awareness and funding for the Stelvio for Life Foundation. This foundation is unwavering in its commitment to supporting the cancer research carried out by the Center for Personalized Cancer Treatment (CPCT) in the Netherlands. At its core, this research seeks to revolutionize cancer treatment by harnessing the power of DNA analysis. In recent years, the CPCT has conducted groundbreaking studies, including the Drug Rediscovery Protocol trial, a nationwide clinical research effort that matched patients with targeted therapies based on specific DNA alterations identified through whole-genome sequencing (WGS) performed by the Hartwig Medical Foundation.

These initiatives have shown great promise in offering cancer patients more effective treatment options tailored to their individual genetic makeup. In fact, evidence generated by the CPCT was fundamental in the Dutch government’s decision to reimburse WGS as standard of care for patients facing cancers of unknown primary diagnosis.  

The 2023 hike drew participants from diverse backgrounds and regions and united them under a common cause. The same dedication of Illumina’s 11 employees was reflected in the hundreds of other people who took part, further highlighting the strength of the international community’s commitment to finding innovative solutions to cancer.

“It was a great couple of days,” says cyclist Chris Zwanenburg, an Illumina executive sales specialist based in the Netherlands. “The spirit was high, and everyone was energized to climb and overcome this giant of a mountain. We were all very proud to see the Illumina banners and logo all over the place. It was a clear message that both employees and the company are supporting this incredible cause so close to our hearts.”

The outcome was equally impressive on the financial front. Participants were encouraged to raise one euro for every meter of altitude they climbed, and the event raised a total of 23,000€ for cancer research. This journey up the Passo dello Stelvio aligns with the Illumina Corporate Foundation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program’s commitment to deepening the company’s impact on human health, community, and our planet.

Illumina’s CSR initiatives extend beyond financial contributions. Employees are actively involved in giving back through volunteer opportunities, a matching donation program, and volunteer rewards. This enables employees to connect with causes that both resonate with them personally and align with the company’s mission, like Stelvio for Life. For those who participated and those who donated, the event was proof that, united by a shared purpose, individuals can help create a better future for all those affected by cancer.

Originally published on Illumina News Center

On September 2, 11 Illumina teammates embarked on a journey up the formidable Passo dello Stelvio as part of the Stelvio for Life charity event. As they cycled, walked, and even ran their way up this challenging mountain pass in the Italian Alps, they did so with a singular purpose: to support an organization working to advance research into personalized cancer treatments.

At Illumina, our mission to improve human health by unlocking the power of the genome guides everything we do, from business decisions to our corporate citizenship program activities. Our people are committed to giving back to the communities where we live and work and are passionate about connecting to our mission. And we are not afraid of a little sweat.

The hike aims to raise awareness and funding for the Stelvio for Life Foundation. This foundation is unwavering in its commitment to supporting the cancer research carried out by the Center for Personalized Cancer Treatment (CPCT) in the Netherlands. At its core, this research seeks to revolutionize cancer treatment by harnessing the power of DNA analysis. In recent years, the CPCT has conducted groundbreaking studies, including the Drug Rediscovery Protocol trial, a nationwide clinical research effort that matched patients with targeted therapies based on specific DNA alterations identified through whole-genome sequencing (WGS) performed by the Hartwig Medical Foundation.

These initiatives have shown great promise in offering cancer patients more effective treatment options tailored to their individual genetic makeup. In fact, evidence generated by the CPCT was fundamental in the Dutch government’s decision to reimburse WGS as standard of care for patients facing cancers of unknown primary diagnosis.  

The 2023 hike drew participants from diverse backgrounds and regions and united them under a common cause. The same dedication of Illumina’s 11 employees was reflected in the hundreds of other people who took part, further highlighting the strength of the international community’s commitment to finding innovative solutions to cancer.

“It was a great couple of days,” says cyclist Chris Zwanenburg, an Illumina executive sales specialist based in the Netherlands. “The spirit was high, and everyone was energized to climb and overcome this giant of a mountain. We were all very proud to see the Illumina banners and logo all over the place. It was a clear message that both employees and the company are supporting this incredible cause so close to our hearts.”

The outcome was equally impressive on the financial front. Participants were encouraged to raise one euro for every meter of altitude they climbed, and the event raised a total of 23,000€ for cancer research. This journey up the Passo dello Stelvio aligns with the Illumina Corporate Foundation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program’s commitment to deepening the company’s impact on human health, community, and our planet.

Illumina’s CSR initiatives extend beyond financial contributions. Employees are actively involved in giving back through volunteer opportunities, a matching donation program, and volunteer rewards. This enables employees to connect with causes that both resonate with them personally and align with the company’s mission, like Stelvio for Life. For those who participated and those who donated, the event was proof that, united by a shared purpose, individuals can help create a better future for all those affected by cancer.

We discussed the most common misconceptions about NBS, why they’re such an effective tool at creating co-benefits for local communities and the climate, and what the future looks like in this space.

What do you see as the current state of play, both in the REDD+ market in the US and globally?

The way I see it, the current state of play in the US is not so much project development, or generating credits from REDD+ forest protection projects, but a real chance for corporate action. For companies wanting to achieve net zero, their biggest opportunity is acquiring REDD+ credits and supporting Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments in developing countries. These credits are high quality, have great transparency, and generate impact for the local communities and for the governments in the countries from which they originate.

In the global market, I believe the REDD+ marketplace is at a significant evolutionary moment. The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is paving the way for compliance markets and national climate plans, and REDD+ is leading on that front from project-based approaches to jurisdictional-based approaches. This has been an ongoing process for several years, specifically implementing solutions in project-level work, which is where the vast majority of the media scrutiny is that we’ve seen in the past year.

How do REDD+ projects effectively channel the finance they receive, and what is the most common misconception you see about projects?

I’ll give you an example of what I believe the future will look like. Globally, large corporations that have scalable net zero commitments, will need millions of credits. And they need certainty about how they’re going to meet those pledges. They need credibility from the quality of the credits and financial certainty about what costs are going to look like. And they want to invest in and lock those up sooner rather than later. The VCM and in particular J-REDD+ that is being implemented are the most reliable ways to address those questions. For clarity, J-REDD+ refers to REDD+ projects with a high level of government, or jurisdictional, involvement in the management of the landscapes.

I believe the most common misconception is the following: buying credits pays people to not do anything. It’s in the name: avoidance of emissions. We have a misunderstanding on our hands – in assuming that there must be an enforcement problem. But market mechanisms like the VCM have demonstrated time and time again that they are part of the global climate solution.

The reality is that there are socioeconomic pressures on all kinds of families worldwide to get fuel, and wood, to cook, build their homes, and clear land for farming. What projects do is integrate rural economic development: protecting resources, and at the same time increasing the value of other activities and livelihoods to be higher than clearing forests.

And that’s the way that we protect the Earth. A rising tide lifts all boats – when we work together.

Where do you see the potential of J-REDD+?

Jurisdictional REDD works with governments on the projects’ monitoring. However, it often lacks funding for other aspects such as reforestation or the protection of boundaries.

This is where we, and other carbon developers, come in: funding a blended finance portfolio with the help of corporations, we are able to channel finance into the jurisdiction and support project implementation on the ground. We support project activities with the communities throughout the land area, for example, managing or creating new small businesses, such as tree nurseries or seed collectors.

In general, this is a new REDD+ approach, both in its scale and in terms of the partnerships with beneficiaries and governments. It means there’s scope to improve. At the same time, this approach allows for large-scale mitigation, because we are able to access massive landscapes. The methodologies themselves will address topics of baselining and leakages. And many of the challenges associated with benefit distribution will be transparent and public because of the involvement of government entities. Those are all great advances, and for the marketplace, this is a great leap forward.

Along with decarbonisation, J-REDD and REDD+ projects also have the potential to address social issues through co-benefits. How can project developers support the creation of co-benefits and also ensure their equality and security in project operation?

There are all kinds of ways of channeling finance for climate impact, but NBS is unique. The “secret sauce” is its co-benefits; it creates jobs with local communities. It involves them in understanding their role and the need that they have to maintain the ecosystem as the fundamental driver of the rural economy of planet Earth for them, their kids, and their grandkids. And it resonates with their sense of self. The co-benefits make NBS projects, I believe, worth much more than other types.

In terms of ensuring and securing these co-benefits: there are robust ESG frameworks that incorporate a whole host of safeguarding mechanisms and sustainable development goals. They are embedded in, for example, the protocols of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the World Bank, and the IFC ESG safeguards, among the most rigorous and mature overall. VERRA, of course, has a whole suite of tools for that, as well as the climate community and biodiversity co-benefit standard tied to VERRA.

But the “secret sauce” for a nature-based solutions project is that we work with people on the ground to improve their landscapes. And they know it. And they want to do it. And they love that they’re paid to do it. And they know that all of the benefits outside of the carbon credit itself that go back to the investor accrue to local people.

So, could we improve at assessing implementation, which is our role in these projects? Yes, we could strengthen that. We can also build capacity amongst all the actors so that we ensure that the outcomes are better steered towards an equitable, gender-balanced, generationally balanced approach. That’s something that we’re beginning to consider.

But when it comes to the overall potential to address both social and climate issues, I believe there’s almost no better way to do it than nature-based solutions that protect, sustainably manage, and restore our precious ecosystems.

We discussed the most common misconceptions about NBS, why they’re such an effective tool at creating co-benefits for local communities and the climate, and what the future looks like in this space.

What do you see as the current state of play, both in the REDD+ market in the US and globally?

The way I see it, the current state of play in the US is not so much project development, or generating credits from REDD+ forest protection projects, but a real chance for corporate action. For companies wanting to achieve net zero, their biggest opportunity is acquiring REDD+ credits and supporting Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments in developing countries. These credits are high quality, have great transparency, and generate impact for the local communities and for the governments in the countries from which they originate.

In the global market, I believe the REDD+ marketplace is at a significant evolutionary moment. The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is paving the way for compliance markets and national climate plans, and REDD+ is leading on that front from project-based approaches to jurisdictional-based approaches. This has been an ongoing process for several years, specifically implementing solutions in project-level work, which is where the vast majority of the media scrutiny is that we’ve seen in the past year.

How do REDD+ projects effectively channel the finance they receive, and what is the most common misconception you see about projects?

I’ll give you an example of what I believe the future will look like. Globally, large corporations that have scalable net zero commitments, will need millions of credits. And they need certainty about how they’re going to meet those pledges. They need credibility from the quality of the credits and financial certainty about what costs are going to look like. And they want to invest in and lock those up sooner rather than later. The VCM and in particular J-REDD+ that is being implemented are the most reliable ways to address those questions. For clarity, J-REDD+ refers to REDD+ projects with a high level of government, or jurisdictional, involvement in the management of the landscapes.

I believe the most common misconception is the following: buying credits pays people to not do anything. It’s in the name: avoidance of emissions. We have a misunderstanding on our hands – in assuming that there must be an enforcement problem. But market mechanisms like the VCM have demonstrated time and time again that they are part of the global climate solution.

The reality is that there are socioeconomic pressures on all kinds of families worldwide to get fuel, and wood, to cook, build their homes, and clear land for farming. What projects do is integrate rural economic development: protecting resources, and at the same time increasing the value of other activities and livelihoods to be higher than clearing forests.

And that’s the way that we protect the Earth. A rising tide lifts all boats – when we work together.

Where do you see the potential of J-REDD+?

Jurisdictional REDD works with governments on the projects’ monitoring. However, it often lacks funding for other aspects such as reforestation or the protection of boundaries.

This is where we, and other carbon developers, come in: funding a blended finance portfolio with the help of corporations, we are able to channel finance into the jurisdiction and support project implementation on the ground. We support project activities with the communities throughout the land area, for example, managing or creating new small businesses, such as tree nurseries or seed collectors.

In general, this is a new REDD+ approach, both in its scale and in terms of the partnerships with beneficiaries and governments. It means there’s scope to improve. At the same time, this approach allows for large-scale mitigation, because we are able to access massive landscapes. The methodologies themselves will address topics of baselining and leakages. And many of the challenges associated with benefit distribution will be transparent and public because of the involvement of government entities. Those are all great advances, and for the marketplace, this is a great leap forward.

Along with decarbonisation, J-REDD and REDD+ projects also have the potential to address social issues through co-benefits. How can project developers support the creation of co-benefits and also ensure their equality and security in project operation?

There are all kinds of ways of channeling finance for climate impact, but NBS is unique. The “secret sauce” is its co-benefits; it creates jobs with local communities. It involves them in understanding their role and the need that they have to maintain the ecosystem as the fundamental driver of the rural economy of planet Earth for them, their kids, and their grandkids. And it resonates with their sense of self. The co-benefits make NBS projects, I believe, worth much more than other types.

In terms of ensuring and securing these co-benefits: there are robust ESG frameworks that incorporate a whole host of safeguarding mechanisms and sustainable development goals. They are embedded in, for example, the protocols of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the World Bank, and the IFC ESG safeguards, among the most rigorous and mature overall. VERRA, of course, has a whole suite of tools for that, as well as the climate community and biodiversity co-benefit standard tied to VERRA.

But the “secret sauce” for a nature-based solutions project is that we work with people on the ground to improve their landscapes. And they know it. And they want to do it. And they love that they’re paid to do it. And they know that all of the benefits outside of the carbon credit itself that go back to the investor accrue to local people.

So, could we improve at assessing implementation, which is our role in these projects? Yes, we could strengthen that. We can also build capacity amongst all the actors so that we ensure that the outcomes are better steered towards an equitable, gender-balanced, generationally balanced approach. That’s something that we’re beginning to consider.

But when it comes to the overall potential to address both social and climate issues, I believe there’s almost no better way to do it than nature-based solutions that protect, sustainably manage, and restore our precious ecosystems.