ÇEVKO Foundation Held Its 2022 Talks Series

ÇEVKO Foundation, in collaboration with the Association of Economic Journalists (EGD), continues to address climate crisis issues comprehensively through ÇEVKO Foundation Talks launched last year. The fourth ÇEVKO Foundation Talks of 2022 was held under the title Leading Industrial Enterprises in Turkey and Their Climate Change and Sustainability Work. The talks, moderated by Celal Toprak, Chairman of the EGD High Advisory Board, and attended by ÇEVKO Foundation General Secretary Mete İmer, featured presentations from L'Oréal Turkey and Unilever. In particular, ÇEVKO Foundation, which has focused over the past five years on "combating climate crisis" and "transitioning to circular economy," addresses climate crisis issues comprehensively through ÇEVKO Foundation Talks. "ÇEVKO Foundation Talks" continue at full pace this year as well. In cooperation with the Association of Economic Journalists Global Warming Congress Committee, the fourth of the talks prepared by ÇEVKO Foundation's Climate Change and Sustainability Working Group was held under the title Leading Industrial Enterprises in Turkey and Their Climate Change and Sustainability Work. The online talks, moderated by Celal Toprak, Chairman of the Association of Economic Journalists (EGD) High Advisory Board, and attended by ÇEVKO Foundation General Secretary Mete İmer, featured presentations from L'Oréal Turkey and Unilever. This month's speakers were İrem Karaoda, Corporate Relations and Engagement Director at L'Oréal Turkey, and Buket Özbekle Apaydın, Environment Compliance Manager at Unilever-NAMETR.  

We Must Act Together

At the opening of the online meeting, Celal Toprak, Chairman of the EGD High Advisory Board, emphasized the importance of "ÇEVKO Foundation Talks" and gave the floor to ÇEVKO Foundation General Secretary Mete İmer. ÇEVKO Foundation General Secretary Mete İmer stressed that taking action is as essential as raising awareness and continued: We continue to bring to the agenda the exemplary practices of ÇEVKO Foundation member companies in combating Climate Change through our collaboration with EGD. As we constantly emphasize, both taking action and raising awareness are important on this issue. A study conducted by an international medical journal among young people aged 18-25 reveals that the younger generation feels helplessness, guilt, anxiety and anger towards climate change. This issue concerns young people much more than our generation, and this is reflected in the research results. Climate change is said to cause certain psychological problems. The solution lies in taking action. It is possible to contribute by participating in activities such as waste collection and forest rehabilitation. Taking action and being part of these activities is of great importance. As ÇEVKO Foundation, this year we have carried out numerous activities with our members including coastal cleanups and forest rehabilitation. We must act, we must act together. I want to emphasize this particularly. We are looking forward to hearing about the exemplary work of the working group members we will listen to today. They set an example for other industrial enterprises in our country and fulfill a very important role in terms of corporate responsibility. I thank everyone and greet you with respect."  

Can a Beauty Company Change the World?

İrem Karaoda, Corporate Relations and Engagement Director at L'Oréal Turkey, stated that before providing information about sustainability work, they ask themselves every day: "Can a beauty company change the world?" Karaoda posed this question to the participants and continued: "This question is at the heart of what we do: Can a beauty company change the world? We believe: If it conducts its revolutions with passion and includes all its stakeholders in this mobilization, Yes! At the heart of this are three main revolutions: First, digital transformation. Second, sustainability/green revolution, which we will address today. Third, the revolution of creating meaningful brands. Our sustainability program, L'Oréal for the Future, has a defining characteristic compared to similar programs: inclusivity. As L'Oréal, we said we are increasing our impact from 1% to 100%, and we set out to include all our stakeholders, suppliers, business partners, and customers in this process and lead it. With our L'Oréal for the Future Sustainability Program, our focus is to transform the way we do business with respect to 'the boundaries of our planet.' In other words, to transform ourselves. Not limiting ourselves to ourselves but strengthening our entire business ecosystem and being more inclusive. Finally, to make 'concrete and measurable' contributions to solving environmental and social challenges that the world faces and which require immediate action.  

What Should We Do to Promote Sustainable Living?

Buket Özbekle Apaydın, Environment Compliance Manager at Unilever NAMETR (Unilever North Africa, Middle East, Turkey and Russia), provided important information about Unilever's sustainability approach: "Our goal is to make Sustainable Living commonplace. I would like to share our practices particularly within the framework of climate and circular economy. Unilever operates in more than 190 countries. Operating with 148,000 employees, we are one of the world's leading personal care, home care, beauty, health, nutrition and ice cream companies. Every day we reach 3.4 billion consumers. As Unilever, we operate in Turkey with six factories and more than 5,000 employees and export to 32 countries. With our 29 brands, we are present in every household with at least one of our products. At Unilever Turkey, the ratio of women leaders to all leaders is 50%. Unilever believes that companies with purpose are enduring, people with purpose develop and brands with purpose grow. Governments are working intensively to overcome the problems the world faces, but the business world and brands must also be part of the solution. Through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan we implemented between 2010-2020, we helped improve the health and well-being of 1.3 billion people worldwide. We achieved a 10% reduction in the greenhouse gas impact of our products and reduced the footprint of consumer waste by 34%. We supported 2.6 million small business owners and ensured 67% of our products were sourced through sustainable methods. We were among the first to integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into our operations. After 10 years, our sustainability agenda did not end. In 2020, we launched our Unilever Sustainable Living Compass strategy. This new business strategy includes a 1 billion Euro Climate and Nature Fund, carbon neutrality from all product production by 2039, a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023, empowering new generation farmers and small businesses, making product formulations biodegradable by 2030 and implementing 100 water stewardship programs, among many other targets. We have our 4R Strategy within our ecosystem. This strategy can be summarized as reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. We implement our investments under this strategy through our clean technology fund. In 2021, a total of 1.8 million Euro in sustainable technology investments were made in Turkey. During the 2010-2020 period, we achieved a 55% reduction in carbon emissions at our factories in Turkey, and from 2010 to today we have recorded a 17% reduction per product in energy used in production processes. Our 'Zero Waste to Landfill' practice continues to this day."