Climate push wins Central Group gongs
Central Group has won two prestigious “Climate Action Awards” from the United Nations (UN), reaffirming its status as a green organisation committed to driving the “Circular Economy” for sustainability.
Pichai Chirathivat, Executive Director of Central Group said the company is aware and concerned about environmental issues that Thailand is facing, from PM2.5 pollution and the plastic waste crisis to the ever-more unseasonal climate, and initiated its Central Tham project with the aim of operating its business while creating shared values with communities and society under its circular-economy-inspired strategy on the environment.
Mr Pichai said: “Central Group has initiated many many environmental initiatives under the Central Group Love’s the Earth banner, and we have joined forces with various parties to take action together, focusing on single-use plastic reduction, recycling and upcycling, waste segregation, food waste reduction, forest restoration and climate change and energy management in particular.”
In 2020, the group handed out 236 million fewer single-use plastic bags and donated 203,778 kilogrammes of surplus food to vulnerable groups, or 855,869 meals. Between 2018 and 2020, it restored 1,033 rai of forests in upstream areas, he added.
Its environmental collaboration, in March 2020, with the United Nations and Agricultural and Food Marketing Association for Asia and the Pacific (AFMA) saw the group presented with two Climate Action Awards for helping to drive the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, a major contributor to climate change.
This involved two key components, said Mr Pichai.
The first was a group-wide effort to reduce food and waste surplus: The group reduced its greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint by 862,109 KgCo²e in 2020 by sorting organic waste and donating food surplus from its businesses such as Family Mart, Tops, Centara, Central Restaurants Group (Mister Donut) and Central Plaza.
The second saw the group begin work with the Forest Landscape Restoration Fund to restore areas for the production of diverse and safe foods for consumption and sustainable sources of income for farmers, as well as create a better a quality of life for communities.
Central Tham by Central Group is committed to creating a network of platforms which connect and benefit everyone from the top to the bottom of the economy, and which can be adapted to suit other models as part of the group’s mission to improve the environment effectively and sustainably.