Cargill China celebrates Global Earth Day in 26 cities
April 22, 2008
Contact:
- Catherine Zhang Email: Catherine_zhang@cargill.com Telephone: 86 10 84863191 Fax: 86 10 64668167
Beijing — Today, Cargill China celebrates Global Earth Day in 26 cities by carrying out various local environmental activities. In Beijing, Cargill volunteers are working together with students from China Agricultural University publicizing water conservancy in four different locations and distributing recycling bags to the public.
On the same day, Cargill employees in another 25 cities including Hong Kong and Taipei are actively participating in many community activities. For example, in Jiaxing, Jiangsu Province Cargill volunteers are working with a local primary school to promote an environmental awareness campaign through paintings, as well as help to clean a nearby lake. In Urumchi, Chongqing, Tianjin, Pinghu in Zhenjian Province and Baicheng in Jilin Province, volunteers are helping to plant trees in their communities. In Yangjiang, Guangdong province, Cargill has sponsored a photographic exhibition about river protection at local schools. These activities respond well to the objective of Earth Day, which is to foster environmental citizenship and global environmental awareness.
Cargill is committed to being a global leader in corporate citizenship by nourishing the people and possibilities in communities where we do business. Our employees participate in many kinds of Corporate Social Responsibility activities throughout Cargill locations around the world. These efforts are coordinated through employee-led Cargill Cares Councils. Cargill Cares Councils which seek to identify environmental issues in their communities and address them in proactive and innovative ways, which will ultimately lead to a more harmonious society.
Norwell Coquillard, the president of Cargill China, said: “Our employees in China are really enthusiastic about volunteer works and community activities. Now we have 28 local Cares Councils in China, and 27 of them participate in this global activity. It is clear that China is becoming a main force of Cargill’s global citizenship efforts.”
About Earth Day
April 22, 1970 was the birth of the modern environmental movement in the United States. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a senator from Wisconsin, recalls his motivation for proposing the first nationwide environmental protest: "The objective was to organize a national demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. It was a gamble, but it worked." At the time, Americans were powering their massive V8 sedans with leaded gasoline. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or even bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Earth Day turned all that around.
In 1990, Earth Day went global, with 200 million people from 141 nations participating. Thousands of activities took place worldwide, including demonstrations, tree plantings, Earth Fairs, river clean-ups, cultural events and government-sponsored initiatives. This international groundswell of concern for the environment elevated the status of environmental issues on the world stage and led some governments to create agencies for environmental protection. Earth Day is now widely celebrated around the world, as a collective expression of public will to create a sustainable society. Earth Day activities educate and mobilize people worldwide for environmental protection. It inspires action on personal, community, national and international levels.
About Cargill
Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 158,000 employees in 66 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. For more information, visit http://www.cargill.com.
About Cargill China
Cargill started trade with China soon after President Nixon’s visit in 1972. Cargill’s annual trade value with China today is around US$ 5 billion. Currently, Cargill sells grains, oilseeds, steel products, sugar, fruit juices, meats and other commodities to China while exporting Chinese commodities such as steel, apple juice and corn. Cargill operates 34 wholly owned companies and joint ventures within 20 provinces and municipalities in China. Projects range from soybean crushing in Guangdong to corn processing in Jilin and animal feed production in Sichuan. Cargill and its joint ventures employ 4400 people in China. Cargill China website: http://www.cargill.com.cn.
Cargill’s CSR activities in China
Cargill is living its commitment to citizenship by establishing local Cargill Cares Councils at its locations. These groups identify community needs in the fields of health, environment and education in China.
In support of education, Cargill has partnered with SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) to expand SIFE's activities to create real economic opportunity for members of their community. Cargill employees partner with JA (Junior Achievement China) to teach students about the fundamentals of finance and economics.
To cooperate with TNC (The Nature Conservancy) in Yunnan Province, Cargill is helping farmers to adopt environmentally friendly technologies in an effort to protect Yunnan’s unique biodiversity.
In addition to thousands of volunteer hours Cargill has donated over RMB 12 million over the past 3 years for its citizenship efforts.
Cargill Cares Rural Education Program: Cargill has recently announced that it will help with the reconstruction of as many as 40 rural schools using a grant from Cargill’s headquarters of USD 1 million.
Last month, Cargill China and corporate headquarters donated RMB 200,000 to China Children and Teenager’s Fund to help rebuilt schools in Hunan province that were damaged by the heavy snowstorms and winter weather that hit central and southern China in early February. Cargill employees in Beijing also donated warm clothes and blankets to a charity effort organized by MOFCOM.