|
|
Rainforest Alliance Announces 2008 Honorees to be Recognized for Leadership in Sustainability and Support of Conservation Work |
|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, May. 13 -/E-Wire/--
The Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation organization, is pleased to announce the 2008 honorees that will be recognized at its annual gala on May 15 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The annual gala recognizes companies and individuals for their work with the Rainforest Alliance on making sustainable supply chain decisions or for their longtime support of conservation work.
|
|
“We are proud to honor global leaders across sectors ranging from forest products to coffee to finance for big strides they have made in supporting sustainability,” said Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance, who was listed last year by Ethisphere magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in business ethics. “The Rainforest Alliance was founded more than 20 years ago with the idea of using market forces to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods. Now, this idea has been catching on with a broader audience as businesses and consumers increasingly realize the positive impacts they can have by leveraging their buying power to support sustainable agriculture, forestry and tourism.”
|
|
The 2008 honorees are:
|
Lifetime Achievement Awardee:
|
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
|
Individual Sustainable Standard-Setter:
|
Toshishige Nakagoshi, Yusuhara Forest Owners’ Cooperative
|
Corporate Sustainable Standard-Setters (companies that have worked with the Rainforest Alliance and exhibited outstanding leadership in efforts to promote sustainability):
|
Mohawk Fine Papers
|
NatureAir
|
Corporate Green Globe Awardees (businesses that demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to furthering sustainability):
|
Gloria Jean’s Coffees International
|
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
|
HSBC
|
Luigi Lavazza S.p.A.
|
2008 gala co-chairs:
|
JPMorgan Chase
|
Nestlé Nespresso
|
Potlatch Corporation
|
The honorees and co-chairs will come together with other business leaders and representatives from the Rainforest Alliance for a day-long workshop on marketing sustainability and certification at the New York headquarters of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Following the workshop, they will join other Rainforest Alliance supporters for an awards dinner, dancing and a silent auction at the American Museum of Natural History. Gala proceeds benefit the Rainforest Alliance’s work in sustainable agriculture, forestry and tourism.
|
Achievements of the 2008 gala honorees and co-chairs (for more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org):
|
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
|
For decades, The Prince of Wales has been a staunch environmental advocate, devoting his efforts toward conservation, corporate responsibility, the sustainable use of the Earth’s resources and raising awareness of climate change many years before it became an issue of global concern. Through the years, His Royal Highness has developed a wide range of interests which are today reflected in 'The Prince's Charities', a group of 19 not-for-profit organizations for which The Prince of Wales is President. The group is the largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the United Kingdom, raising over £119 million ($234 million) annually. The organizations are active across a broad range of areas including opportunity and enterprise, education, health, the built environment, social enterprise, responsible business and the natural environment. These interests are also reflected in the listof around 400 organizations of which he is Patron or President. In October 2007 His Royal Highness established The Prince's Rainforests Project to find practical solutions to slow tropical deforestation and combat climate change.
|
Mr. Toshishige Nakagoshi is board chair of the Yusuhara Forest Owners’ Cooperative in southwestern Japan. The company has been certified by the Rainforest Alliance to FSC standards since 2000.
|
Mohawk Fine Papers produces several paper products that originate from FSC-certified forestlands. The company is one of the largest purchasers of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) among US companies. It matches 100 percent of the electricity used in its operations with RECs from wind power projects.
|
NatureAir, a Costa Rica-based regional airline, was the first airline in the world to offset all of its carbon emissions. The company offsets 4,650 tons of carbon dioxide annually and uses carbon credits to help conserve Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, one of the region’s most biologically diverse rainforests.
|
Australian-owed Gloria Jean’s Coffees International has committed to buying nearly 3.9 million pounds (1,750 metric tons) of coffee from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farms this year. In addition, the company has pledged to source up to 85 percent of its total coffee supply from certified farms in the next three years.
|
|
Goldman, Sachs & Co. is using wood from FSC-certified forestlands in construction of its new global headquarters in New York City. The paper used in the company’s annual report, client statements, research reports and stationary comes from well-managed forestlands. And the company serves Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee in its corporate cafeterias, cafes and pantries.
|
HSBC is one of a handful of financial institutions to give preference to FSC-certified businesses when financing forestry projects. HSBC prints major reports on FSC-certified paper, and has also supported the Rainforest Alliance’s education curriculum.
|
Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. works with the Rainforest Alliance on Tierra, a project that helps small coffee-growing communities in Honduras, Peru and Colombia improve working conditions and environmental practices and become more competitive in their production. Since 2004, Rainforest Alliance Certified Tierra coffee has been sold in specialty and retail stores in several countries.
|
JPMorgan Chase has been supporting the Rainforest Alliance since 1990, most recently our work with carbon sequestration projects. The company is working to reduce its own environmental footprint through efficient energy use, reduced paper consumption and incorporation of green practices into building projects.
|
Nestlé Nespresso S.A. has been working with the Rainforest Alliance and our partners in the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) to develop its AAA Sustainable QualityTM Program since 2003. The program incorporates environmental, social and quality standards for more than 15,000 farms from which the company sources its coffee.
|
Potlatch Corporation, a Washington State-based forestland management company, owns close to 1.7 million acres in four states that are either certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or in the process of earning certification. The company has also planted more than 190 million trees since 1990.
|
Gala underwriter: Gibson Foundation
|
Gala sponsors: Domtar and the New York Observer
|
|
BACKGROUND
|
More than two decades ago, a handful of young idealists founded the Rainforest Alliance with the idea of using market forces to conserve forestlands. Now, the organization has a budget of $25 million; offices in the US, Latin America, Europe and Southeast Asia; and partner organizations in 10 countries. The Rainforest Alliance uses third-party independent certification as a tool to encourage environmentally, socially and economically sustainable management of farms, forests and tourism businesses. We also work with companies of all sizes on improving the sustainability of their supply chains. In the past year, the Rainforest Alliance has experienced significant growth: In agriculture, the number of Rainforest Alliance Certified farms grew by 143 percent last year, and the amount of coffee purchased from certified farms has increased by an average of 93 percent every year for the past five years. In forestry, the number of FSC Chain-of-Custody certificates awarded by the Rainforest Alliance increased by 47 percent last year and now make up about a quarter of the total FSC Chain-of-Custody certificates issued globally. In tourism, the number of businesses in Latin America taking part in our training courses focused on improving the sustainability of their operations increased by 41 percent last year to reach a total of more than 250 businesses.
|
The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org. Contact Info: Gretchen Ruethling,
|
646-452-1939,
|
gruethling@ra.org Website : The Rainforest Alliance
|
