The German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and Rewe Group have entered into a long-term strategic partnership, it has been revealed.
An extensive consulting and licensing agreement was concluded on 6 July 2015 in Berlin by the President of NABU, Olaf Tschimpke, and Rewe chief executive Alain Caparros.
NABU is Germany's largest environmental and nature conservation association, while Rewe Group is the second-largest food retailer in Germany, and the two have been working together closely on a project basis since 2009. Now, the strategic partnership is to create an even broader platform.
The strategic partnership is based on the objective to provide new, additional impetus for more sustainable business practices and more sustainable consumption in Germany, and to further improve environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources along the value chains. To this end, specific fields of actions such as marine protection, plastic bags, forest conservation and paper, preservation of natural resources and the promotion of biodiversity have been agreed.
In the context of the strategic partnership, NABU and Rewe Group will establish working groups, conduct regular strategic workshops and develop roadmaps for achieving jointly defined sustainability objectives. At the same time, Tschimpke and Caparros agreed upon a regular exchange on the level of the CEO and the President of Rewe Group and NABU.
The management and coordination of the strategic partnership will be assumed by the federal manager of NABU, Leif Miller, and on the part of Rewe Group by the manager of the sustainability holding area, Dr Daniela Büchel.
'The strategic partnership with NABU offers us the opportunity to gain new momentum for the further development of our strategy and sustainability management,' explained Caparros. 'NABU is a constructive, yet critical consultant and project partner with whom we have already established a good cooperation. By further strengthening the collaboration with NABU, our aim is to consolidate our leading position when it comes to more sustainable business practices and more sustainable consumption in the German retail sector.
'What is particularly important for us is the fact that, thanks to its organisational structure, NABU is also present in local groups throughout Germany,' he added. 'This offers us the opportunity to make our involvement in concrete environmental and nature conservation projects even more tangible and effective for our customers and employees down to the level of our stores.”
Click here for a full run-down of the partnership's initiatives
