World Environment Day is observed on 5th June each year with the purpose of raising environmental awareness and fostering global environmental issue resolution. In honor of World Environment Day, Central Group and its subsidiary companies collaborated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the "Central Group Love the Earth" campaign, and Central Group is the only Thai private sector representative to have organized World Environment Day events with the UNEP. This year's theme, Generation Restoration, was in line with the goals of the United Nations, and RECOFTC joined the event as well. The aims for this year are to (1) restore degraded ecosystems and (2) prevent and halt ecological deterioration by today's generation, for the benefit of the world and future generations. Central Group has pledged to restore over 50,000 rai of green space and minimize the quantity of waste that ends up in landfills by at least 30% by the year 2030. Central Group Love the Earth took place on the third floor, Eden Zone, CentralWorld, during 4-5 June 2024. The event included various environmental conservation activities, such as a recycled glass bottle garden workshop, a panel discussion on generation restoration, and a Griptok creation using natural materials. There was also a mini-concert featuring PLAYGROUND X MITEENNN.
Pichai Chirathivat, Executive Director of the Central Group, stated: "Central Group's sustainability initiative, ‘Central Tham’, is our unwavering commitment to promoting environmental concerns. Our primary focus is on combating climate change and preserving ecosystems and biodiversity. We acknowledge the need to take action to protect and tackle environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, waste, and biodiversity loss, which pose dangers to the world's future. As a result, Central Group and the subsidiaries, including Central Retail Corporation Public Company Limited, Central Pattana Public Company Limited, and Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited, strive to play a consistent role and give environmental guidance in accordance with #GenerationRestoration.”
Central Group's roles and directions align with #GenerationRestoration.
1) Emphasizing humans as resource consumers and change agents throughout generations
- Central Group was one of the first private-sector organizations to respond to environmental challenges through long-term environmental and community programs, such as Say No to Plastic Bags. Furthermore, it has supported communities in developing commodities and activities that promote nature sustainability.
- Central Group communicates its commitment and maintains its environmental intentions with internal and external stakeholders. It also consistently undertakes projects to raise environmental awareness and develop skills for future generations, which include employees and students.
2) Carrying out environmental efforts in accordance with the #GenerationRestoration principles, which seek to achieve two goals: (1) restoring degraded ecosystems and (2) preventing and halting ecosystem deterioration
- Central Group has contributed to the restoration of damaged ecosystems through several projects under Central Love the Earth. An examples of these projects:
- Central Group has restored green spaces totaling over 50,000 rais nationwide, with a focus on upstream areas.
- Central Group has integratively prevented and halted ecological deterioration through various initiatives, such as:
- Central Group seeks to reach zero waste through the Journey to Zero It concentrates on waste reduction at the point of origin, specifically single-use plastic trash. Furthermore, Central Group has handled waste segregation and recycling to conserve resources and reduce garbage that ends up in landfills.
- Central Group provides products that have an impact on sustainability for customers, such as eco-products, products produced using responsible manufacturing practices, and biodegradable or recyclable materials. Furthermore, Central Group promotes organic agricultural goods and agriculture that reduces carbon emissions and revitalizes the land.
- Central Group's supply chain includes environmentally friendly procedures such as alternative energy-powered transportation (EV trucks) and clean energy generation through solar cells.
- Under Community Climate Action (CCA), Central Group mobilizes and supports communities in the fight against climate change, as well as those affected by it.
Central Retail Corporation Public Company Limited (CRC) has received recognition from the DJSI World and Emerging Markets Sustainability Index. It was also recently honored in the Sustainability Yearbook 2024 as having a top 5% S&P Global CSA Score in the retailing sector. This reinforces its reputation as a green and sustainable retailer with a strong sustainability model in Asia. CRC prioritizes addressing the global climate catastrophe and working toward the goal of becoming a net-zero corporation by 2050 through its CRC "ReNEW" strategy. The tangible operational outcomes of CRC consist of:
1. Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- CRC has used electric trucks for transporting goods, totaling 22 vehicles.
- CRC has implemented a variety of energy-saving technologies, such as installing energy-efficient cooling systems at 777 supermarket outlets around the country.
2. Navigate Environmental Responsibility
- ESG training for executive level employees
- CRC strives to build ESG skills and readiness for executives and employees to grasp and implement the knowledge in their work through the Future Skills Development program, which has previously trained over 24,000 individuals. In addition, CRC has established a strategy camp to address the challenges of energy management and the circular economy.
- Establishing ESG programs with key partners
- CRC has collaborated with over 135 business partners to establish a training project on Central Retail Logistics for SME and Sustainability in order to promote sustainable management.
3. Eco-friendly Materials
- CRC has employed reusable and environmentally friendly packaging for 28%.
- CRC promotes environmentally friendly fashion and beauty products, such as the Wrangler jeans series, which uses pineapple fiber and consumes less water to produce than other forms of fabric.
- CRC created an environmentally sustainable Central Edition collection in collaboration with 24 young Thai designers. This collection focuses on repurposing waste materials to create new, valuable items and leveraging community members' skills to generate and share cash.
- For the first time in Thai department stores, CRC provides an organic zone within the beauty department of Central Chidlom, demonstrating their sincere commitment to eco-friendly beauty products.
4. Waste Management Solutions
- CRC collaborated with the Faculty of Architecture at Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi and Zero Waste YOLO Co., Ltd. on the "Cap Swap Project" for eliminating plastic trash. The project provided students with the opportunity to employ their creative skills and recycle waste plastic water bottle caps into book shelves for school libraries that needed them.
- CRC actively promotes proper waste separation in partnership with all sectors.
- CRC decreases food waste from source to destination through several projects, such as
- Donating excess food to vulnerable people and selling surprise bags at affordable prices
- Processing surplus food that is unfit for human consumption into treats for pets and turning food waste into fertilizer
Central Pattana Public Company Limited (CPN) has been recognized as the world's #1 leading sustainability company in the real estate management industry, according to Sustainability Yearbook 2024 by S&P Global. Through the implementation of a robust Sustainable Ecosystem strategy that prioritizes Better People and Better Planet in its business operations, CPN endeavors to create sustainable living environments through the design and construction of buildings that minimize their environmental impact, optimize electricity and water consumption efficiency, and harness clean energy through the installation of solar cells on roofs. CPN has installed solar cells on the rooftops of almost 80% of its shopping malls, generating 26,011 MWh of electricity, representing an 188% increase over 2019. Furthermore, CPN intends to encourage environmentally friendly living by providing green areas, bicycle parking spots, and EV charging stations in 40 shopping centers throughout 19 provinces, totaling over 400 parking spaces across the country. It also underlines the importance of collaborating with partners and store owners (green partnerships) around the country to achieve sustainability. In the first year of collaboration, it was able to reduce energy consumption by 719 MWh and landfill garbage by more than 60 tons. Furthermore, CPN has assisted a number of communities in adopting a circular economy model of operation, which generates revenue for the community. For the third year, CPN hosted the Better Futures Project in the Central World Shopping Center from 17–23 June 2024. The purpose of the event is to inspire people to change their lifestyles to be more environmentally friendly in order to improve everyone's future and to increase awareness of the significance of protecting the environment.
Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited (CENTEL) is dedicated to conducting business in an environmentally responsible manner. By taking into account the direct and indirect environmental effects of its activities, CPN maximizes resource efficiency, processes waste in a logical and law-abiding manner, decreases its negative impact on biodiversity and climate change, and encourages everyone to be aware of the impacts of climate change. CPN employs technology to manage the environment, collect data, and track progress in order to steer operations and achieve operational efficiency that aligns with the organization's goals of becoming a sustainable organization. Centara was the first Thai hotel group to achieve GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) certification for sustainable tourism. CPN currently has 24 hotels that are GSTC-certified, with the goal of achieving GSTC accreditation for all hotels by 2025. Centara has an operating system called Centara Earthcare that has been accredited with the GSTC-Recognized Standard, making Centara the first hotel group in Asia to implement GSTC standards in hotel sustainability operations. Centara's sustainability initiatives include the following:
Green Area Projects:
- Centara preserves green areas, accounting for 37% of total green areas in Centara hotels and resorts.
- As a trial project, Centara transformed the 26th floor of Centara Grand at CentralWorld into an organic farm for a variety of seasonal vegetables and herbs, with the possibility of expanding to additional hotels.
- Centara's domestic and international hotels have collaborated to plant 1,009 trees, both on hotel grounds and in public areas in order to boost green space. They also take excellent care of large and native trees in the hotels, such as Samanea Saman trees (Chamchuri), Rain trees (Kampu), and Kahung trees.
- Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives and Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives use transplantation to restore the coral reef ecosystems around the properties. They collect Acropora and Pocillopora that naturally break or fall on the sand, attach them to the steel frames, and submerge them in the sand. Since 2014, this project has been running, collaborating with clients and staff on a monthly basis. Over a thousand coral branches were planted in 2023.
In addition to entertaining workshops that promote environmental preservation, Central Group hosted the World Environment Day as a Carbon Neutral Event, which included greenhouse gas emission calculations and encouraged visitors to use the CERO Carbon Wallet application to offset net carbon to zero in real time. In addition, visitors could exchange used PET bottles for free drinks at the Good Goods booth. The bottles will go to the "“Empty Bottles, Full Possibilities” #4" project and be recycled into blankets for those who are in need of fighting the cold.
Central Group and its subsidiaries are committed to creating a green and sustainable world by reducing environmental impacts and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity, with the belief that if all sectors work together, we will undoubtedly be able to pass on a beautiful and livable world to future generations.
