Nestlé has commenced their initiative to plant millions of native trees in Australia by 2025 as part of their Global Reforestation Program.

Making the announcement at the COP27 Biodiversity Day, Nestlé said that they have partnered with Greening Australia, Canopy and One Tree Planted to plant 10 million trees for their Australian Reforestation Project.

Nestlé’s Global Reforestation Program aims to plant and grow 200 million trees globally by 2030 as part of the company’s efforts to achieve net zero emissions.

Working in collaboration with local landholders and communities, Nestlé will plant a biodiverse mix of native species to restore local biodiversity, improve water quality and enhance degraded soils. The partnership with Greening Australia, Canopy and One Tree Planted will ensure that the trees are monitored across 28 years as they mature, delivering long-term environmental and economic benefits.

The massive tree planting program is expected to sequester an estimated 2.1 million tonnes of CO2 over a 25-year carbon crediting period. Averaged over the project lifetime, this is equivalent to fuel emissions from more than 25,000 cars each year[1].

The trees will be planted in locations linked to regional areas where Nestlé sources their raw materials and will be registered by Greening Australia’s environmental markets business, Canopy, for carbon credits with Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator.

“Our long-term commitment is about more than just planting trees. The reforestation program works to conserve local biodiversity, and advance regenerative food and farming systems – delivering environmental and economic benefits to communities,” Nestlé Oceania CEO Sandra Martinez said.

“Climate change is possibly everyone’s greatest challenge – and a significant risk to the future of our business. We have set ourselves the target of net zero emissions by 2050 and laid out an ambitious roadmap to achieve this. However, we cannot do this alone – collaboration is key,” Martinez added.

Greening Australia CEO and Canopy chair Brendan Foran said, “Partnerships like this one are critical if we are to meet the environmental challenges we face head on with the necessary speed and scale to make real change. Greening Australia and Canopy are proud to be Nestlé’s chosen reforestation partners in Australia as they work towards their net zero ambitions at a local and global scale.”

“This is not just about planting trees, it’s about working together to solve complex environmental problems – restoring our diverse and iconic ecosystems, building habitat for native fauna, improving biodiversity, sequestering carbon and investing in local communities and economies to help people and nature thrive,” Foran said.

200,000 trees planted in 2022

Planting is underway on private landholdings in the Strzelecki Ranges and East Gippsland, Victoria, with Greening Australia on track to finish planting 200,000 trees across almost 100 hectares by the end of the 2022 planting season.

The first plantings will see approximately 65 native species of trees and plants established, including:

Eucalyptus Strzelecki, an Indigenous plant to the region that is nationally vulnerable to extinction;
Allocasuarina littoralis, a key food source for the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo;
Leptospermum lanigerus, commonly known as the ‘woolly tea tree’, a species that attracts pollinators.

Nestle’s road to Net Zero

Nestlé’s Reforestation Project in Australia represents a significant part of the company’s global goal to meet net zero emissions by 2050.

Key initiatives driving Nestlé Australia’s progress towards 2050 include switching to sourcing 100% renewable electricity in 2021, avoiding around 73,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year[2]; and transitioning 100% of packaging to be recyclable or reusable and more than 90% now designed for recycling[3].

References:

[1] Estimated average based on Australian Government – Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; A less fuel-efficient car can emit around 3 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.

[2] Emission reductions calculated using National Greenhouse Accounts Factor, Australian National Greenhouse Accounts August 2021, Table 5; figure excludes the volume accounted for in the purchasing of LGCs in line with renewable power percentage.

[3] Excludes co-manufactured Nestlé products.

Branko Miletic

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