Stop The War, Plant Sunflowers

Another war, at a human cost, has changed the world. The scale of the Russian invasion is worrying the world, in particular some CEE countries. By devastating a “brother” country, Russia could win the war, but not the peace. Almost two weeks of atrocities are already more than enough. We can’t accept what our eyes witness. We are completely appalled. War is never a good idea. At Moeeda we are against any form of war or violence at all. We don’t have any expertise to comment on reasons and more why this happened. Moeeda is not a geopolitical blog and surely it won’t. Throughout Ukraine's history, the sunflower has been used as a symbol of peace, planted by US, Ukraine and Russian defence ministers to celebrate the abandoning of nuclear weapons. We can only encourage all in our community to stand for peace. Stop the war, plant sunflowers!

Back at our principal mission, watching the world under an ESG lens, we can note an ever-growing “S” and “G” impact in these geopolitical tensions. Social and governance principles, that measure the business ethic and how a company creates value for its stakeholders and its local community, led many firms to stop any involvement with Russian counterparties and politicians after the surging of negative geopolitical externalities.

Investors have sold assets and quickly interrupted any links with Russia - booking hefty writedowns. BP has planned to divest its stake in Rosneft and Shell to quit any participation with Gazprom. ExxonMobil has discontinued operations in the Sakhalin-1 project, a partnership with Gazprom. Daimler has ended the partnership with Kamaz; Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW have halted deliveries to the country. Apple has stopped any delivery and suspended sales in Russia; MSC and Maersk have pulled up shipping to Russia. We can continue even considering sanctions, but it is clear that global capital flees Russia. This unprecedented isolation has an indirect effect of making the Russian economy and the population poorer - a tragedy for Ukraine and Russia.

The list of names blacklisting Russia is growing. Many western corporations blocked any investment and contact with Russian counterparties to comply with the new sanctions and to avoid any pressure or worries about risk. Being ESG compliant means in some way dealing with these compliance and reputational risks - the moral choice should be taken into account as well. Social responsibility and corporate actions have become very important and damaging the company’s image could cost more than any penalty.

The Russian war in Ukraine is definitively not an ESG story, but we can’t exclude that businesses rushed to distance themselves from Russia even considering their ESG commitments, practices and performances. Nowadays, the field of ESG matured and all its dynamics around put international companies to deal with any situation even considering the sustainability impact.

Green Cardboard

We are slowly (hopefully) heading to the end of the pandemic. At least in London, life is returning to normal face-to-face life. Commuters are getting back to the office - some of them just for a few days per week. Not everybody is happy to come back to the workplace, but the economy has to recover and people deserve their freedom back. I would personally describe it as a win-win situation. We could even open a never-ending debate on pros and cons. Today we only want to highlight one of the key advantages of returning to normality and promote a company that is making a difference in the sustainability arena.

During the lockdown, online shopping skyrocketed. People moved from physical to (forced) home delivery purchases. Excessive postal deliveries caused an unprecedented surge in rubbish collection and cardboard packaging waste. The pandemic affected the recycling process in all its steps, and closed borders caused a shortage of fibre as well - used to produce cardboard boxes.

No better time for Graphic Packaging Holding Co. to launch a green investment to address this problem: the first for its size, $600 million (financed in part by green bond issuances), to produce green paperboard packaging from recycled cardboards. Graphic Packaging’s project is a great step toward a cleaner supply chain. This new production will require even less water and electricity, with a smaller carbon footprint. Everything translated into fewer greenhouse gases and more ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) compliant.

KeelClip represents Graphic’s latest innovation in recyclable paperboard packaging: a paper fastener that replaces plastic rings, offers some merchandising benefits and has less board than most other carton options. KeelClip is easy to recycle and presents a lower carbon footprint compared to any plastic alternative.

Green projects are registering great momentum in any sector of the global economy. Graphic Packaging, according to its ESG page, has made significant progress in this, since establishing its formal sustainability program in 2008, using renewable energy sources and recycled materials. A company that reflects ESG values and offers environmentally friendly packaging. The recycled paper packaging could present a higher price for the average customer, in a world where inflation is already running high. Plastic is cheap but not properly Moeeda-friendly - don’t forget that most of the plastic used remains in the environment (only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling), with the greater risk to have more plastic than fish in the oceans.

Graphic Packaging is one of the companies that make us proud under any aspect that Moeeda covers. Its employees all over the world dedicate thousands of hours of their time to improve the communities in which we live and work: i.e. by contributing to local food banks and groups that provide meals to those in need; investing in education by offering scholarship; or by participating in river cleanups and engaging with schools across the globe to introduce the science behind recycling paper to create new packaging.

Moeeda is happy to promote Graphic Packaging. Its commitment will help many consumer-product companies to have greener alternatives and to step into a sustainable supply chain. Another great step in the right direction.

Artificial Snow

I love this part of the year, the coldest one, where even in London we could expect to experience snowfalls. We are in the midst of winter, the best part of the season to have a ski holiday too. Some ski resorts are overbooked after years full of cancellations and almost null bookings due to the pandemic. Maybe some of you are reading this post from a cosy chalet in the Alps. Being immersed in nature makes us feel green and environmentally friendly. But sometimes, our impact, even if indirect, is not positive.

In recent years, rising temperatures have been affecting everything, even ski resorts. Warmer temperatures have hurt many altitudes around the world. Climate change has favoured more melting and an increasing scarcity of natural snow. The hospitality business has been forced to rely even more on the production of artificial snow - produced by a machine that uses a high-pressure pump to spray a mist of water into the cold air. Unfortunately, a trend that has characterised winter games as well. At the latest 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, all the competitions completely rely on artificial snow, making the event not properly sustainable.

A process that negatively affects our planet. Many don’t even consider the amount of water needed for snowmaking. In some areas, up to 20 per cent of water consumed will be used to make snow. A growing environmental concern considering the scarcity in some regions of the world. In addition, the energy consumption for large scale snow production represents another problem to be addressed. Some ski resorts use snow-cannons powered by renewable energy (like the Olympics in Beijing), but the huge waste of water is still a big issue.

Back at the Olympics, I hope that in 2026, when the Winter Games return to Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan, we won't have the same problem. In the meantime, while picking your ski destinations, please think twice and choose a place with natural snow, like buying fruits in season.