Peugeot has planted two million trees in an area of deforestation in Brazil to create a forestry ‘carbon sink’, which it started in 1999.

The aim of the project is to provide an area which will absorb more carbon over a given period of time than it emits.

Peugeot calculated the amount of CO2 produced by individual cars and then planted the equivalent number of trees to balance out the cycle. Peugeot said the first ‘appraisals’ on the effectiveness of the programme already show that the equivalent of 55,000 tonnes of CO2 had been absorbed.

Pierre Louis Colin managing director of Peugeot UK, said: "This is a major undertaking for Peugeot and one we take very seriously. There are more than 30 million vehicles on the UK’s roads and, as a vehicle producer, we understand we have a responsibility to both the environment and our customers."