COCA-COLA HBC CROATIA PLANTS THE FIRST OF ITS 10000 SEEDLINGS

THE PLANTING OF FIRST OAK SEEDLINGS IN DEMERJE, A SETTLEMENT WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ZAGREB, WHICH TOOK PLACE TODAY, MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE CO2MPENSATING BY PLANTING PROGRAM, THE FIRST PROGRAM IN CROATIA THAT OFFSETS CO2 EMISSIONS BY PLANTING TREES. AS A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANY, COCA-COLA HBC CROATIA DECIDED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM BY PLANTING 10000 SEEDLINGS, AND THUS CONTRIBUTE TO THE WELLBEING OF THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH IT OPERATES.

The CO₂MPENSATING BY PLANTING project has been launched by the Scout Association of Croatia, the Hearth agency and Hrvatske šume as an innovative response to climate change, recognised as one of the greatest threats to humanity today. Not only is this the first program of this kind in Croatia, but it is also the first such program in the entire region, and it is intended for companies and other organisations who want to offset the harmful effects of CO₂ emissions by planting trees, and thus neutralise their carbon footprint, while setting a positive example of how we should care for the environment and the community.

“Sustainability principles are an extremely important component of our business strategy which seeks to create value not only for us, but for all our stakeholders as well, and we see the CO₂MPENSATING BY PLANTING program a way in which we can reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to the community in which we operate. We have recently announced our commitment to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions across our entire value chain by 2040, and have also committed to investing € 250 million in CO₂ emission reduction initiatives already by 2025. Our target is to accelerate our journey towards a circular, low-carbon packaging approach by increasing rPET use, adopting packageless and refillable options, and removing plastics in secondary packaging,” said Bruno Jelić, Director of the Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Department at Coca-Cola HBC Adria, who planted the first seedling on behalf of the company.

This year, Coca-Cola HBC sponsored the supply of 10000 seedlings, which will be planted in five forest areas: in Demerje 1 – 1000 seedlings; in Demerje 2 – 1000 seedlings; in the Žutica forest near Ivanić-Grad – 3000 seedlings; on the island of Čiovo – 3000 seedlings; and on the territory of Velika Gorica – 2000 seedlings. During the autumn of 2021, forest areas where the existing forests have been destroyed due to the effects of climate change, e.g., those that have dried out, suffered pest infestation, etc., will be reforested. Thus, for example, in forest areas Demerje 1 and Demerje 2 it is the sections where the coniferous trees have dried out that will be restored, while restoration efforts in the Žutica forest near Ivanić-Grad will be directed to the section of the forest where ash trees have been destroyed due to pest infestation.

The CO₂MPENSATING BY PLANTING program is implemented in collaboration with the Croatian Forest Research Institute, the Hrvoje Požar Energy Institute, and the Centre for Climatological Research of the Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb. The project sponsors include the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the European Parliament Liaison Office in Croatia, and the US Embassy in Croatia, while GIS Cloud collaborates on the project as the technological sponsor whose application solution will enable viewing of all the relevant data regarding the areas that have been reforested in the framework of the program on: https://www.compensatingbyplanting.com.

Coca-Cola HBC ove je godine sponzorirala sadnju 10.000 sadnica koje će biti posađene na pet šumskih područja: u Demerju 1 – 1000 sadnica, u Demerju 2 – 1000 sadnica, u šumi Žutici pored Ivanić-Grada – 3000 sadnica, na otoku Čiovu – 3000 sadnica i na području Velike Gorice – 2000 sadnica. Tijekom jeseni 2021. obnavljaju se šume na područjima na kojima su postojeće šume uništene djelovanjem klimatskih promjena – šume koje su se osušile, šume koje su napali nametnici i sl. Tako se, primjerice, na područjima šuma Demerje 1 i Demerje 2 obnavljaju dijelovi šuma u kojima se osušila crnogorica, dok se u šumi Žutici pored Ivanić-Grada obnavlja dio šume u kojoj su nametnici uništili stabla jasena.

Program CO2MPENSATING BY PLANTING nastavit će se i sljedeće godine, a provodi se u suradnji s Hrvatskim šumarskim institutom, Energetskim institutom Hrvoje Požar i Centrom za klimatološka istraživanja pri Prirodoslovno-matematičkome fakultetu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Pokrovitelji su projekta Ministarstvo gospodarstva i održivog razvoja, Ured Europskog parlamenta u RH te Veleposlanstvo Sjedinjenih Američkih Država u RH, a tehnološki je pokrovitelj projekta tvrtka GIS Cloud, s pomoću čije će se aplikacije na mrežnoj stranici https://www.compensatingbyplanting.com/ moći pratiti svi relevantni podatci o novopošumljenim područjima u sklopu ovoga projekta.