Head, the American ski and sports manufacturer, has been one of the first manufacturers to make a conscious, or at least public, effort in the battle against climate change.
Read on for their latest news-
The manufacturer says this about the Head join the Cool Earth mmovement.:
HEAD shows corporate carbon responsibility with COOL EARTH
Climate change is on everyone’s lips, also in our industry after this very warm winter season. Many companies, organisations and private individuals are aware of their responsibility toward the environment and are acting. HEAD N.V. is among them. Through its strategic partnership with Cool Earth, a globally active environment protection organisation, HEAD N.V. is supporting a program that is fighting climate change through the protection of rainforests.
In this special issue of Brand News, CEO Johan Eliasch discusses HEAD’s motives for the partnership and explains the goals and measures of Cool Earth.
We want to create awareness among our consumers and sports enthusiasts; we want to motivate them to support our activities by buying our products and at the same time encourage them to immediately contribute to the drastic reduction of CO2 emissions.
Mr. Eliasch, why are rainforests so important?
Johan Eliasch Rainforests play a fundamental role in regulating the world’s climate by locking up atmospheric carbon in their vegetation. 4,000 m2 of rainforest contain more than 100 tons of carbon. When this is destroyed, the carbon is released and the earth’s temperature rises as a result.
Cool Earth is a global charity launched in June 2007. What is their goal, and how do they plan to achieve it?
Johan Eliasch Cool Earth aims to tackle the climate crisis in a cost-effective, mass membership way, long before governments are able to swing into action. It will enable individuals and groups including schools and businesses, to directly fund rainforest protection on a massive scale and safeguard this invaluable resource. As a co-founder of Cool Earth I wanted to short circuit the delay between intent and action. HEAD will be protecting endangered rainforests in the Amazon region of South-America.
HEAD has announced an alliance with the global environmental charity, Cool Earth. What does this cooperation actually entail?
Johan Eliasch HEAD’s partnership with Cool Earth will result in a worldwide environmental program in which we secure to protect over 7,000 acres of highly endangered rainforest per year. This is equivalent to ten times HEAD’s annual emissions.
Can you explain why HEAD N.V. is doing this?
Johan Eliasch Gladly. Environmental responsibility has always been part of HEAD’s corporate values, and we feel it is now important to unite corporate responsibility with direct action. To be able to educate sports enthusiasts about the effects of carbon emissions, and what they can do about it, was an important part of our decision. We all depend on a stable climate to ski, play tennis, or dive. If we don’t wake up and make a difference now, we won’t be doing these things in their natural environments much longer. 50 million acres of rainforest, about the size of Britain, are cut down every year, releasing six billion tonnes of climate warming CO2
Does this mean HEAD is fully offsetting its carbon footprints?
Johan Eliasch Offsetting is not enough. As well as working to minimize our emissions, HEAD is supercharging its carbon responsibility by investing in the protection of 7,000 acres/28 km2 (per year) of endangered rainforest, This is equivalent to over 1,800,000 tonnes of CO2.
Which rainforest is HEAD protecting?
Johan Eliasch Cool Earth operates throughout the world, working together with rainforest nations. HEAD will be protecting endangered rainforests in the Amazon region of South-America.
Can you make the actual size of HEAD’s protected forest more understandable?
Johan Eliasch The size of the forest can be better understood if you consider that 1 acre is approximately one American football field. You can then think about the forest size in different ways: 7,030 acres equal approximately 7,000 American football fields. Or imagine 106,515 tennis courts, or 3,652 FIFA soccer fields. The protected rainforest of 7,030 acres equals approximately 106,515 tennis courts.
When did the HEAD partnership with Cool Earth begin?
Johan Eliasch The initiative was announced in August 2007, and the rainforest will be protected as of the fall of 2007.
