- With a view to its centenary in 2025, the albo club joins the ISA Conexión Puma project in collaboration with Fundación Reforestemos and Fundación Basura.
- The roadmap towards carbon neutrality includes actions to mitigate its carbon footprint, reforestation and sustainable waste management at the Monumental Stadium.
September 20, 2023.- In an unprecedented collaboration that had the active participation of prominent Colo Colo soccer players such as Esteban Pavez, Dahiana Bogarín, Vicente Pizarro and Ángela Corina Clavijo, this Wednesday the symbolic planting of 10 trees took place natives of between 2 to 3 meters each, at the Monumental Stadium to present the new alliance between the club and Conexión Puma, ISA’s sustainability program, together with the Reforestemos Foundation and the Basura Foundation with the aim of turning Colo Colo into the first club in Chile to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.
The alliance establishes this objective to celebrate the team’s centenary, as well as push a new standard for Chilean soccer and project the next 100 years of the club under criteria focused on sustainability.
Specifically, the action plan considers the reforestation of 200 native urban trees measuring between 2 to 3 meters each by December 2023, with the final objective of reaching 500 annually by 2025, as well as recycling 10 to 14 tons of waste for each date in the stadium. This initiative will allow the club to reduce its carbon footprint by an amount equivalent to 40 tons of CO₂ by 2025, positively impacting the health care of people and the planet.
“We are very happy to start this new alliance with ISA, a company from a sister country, together with Colo Colo, the largest team in Chile. Over time, we have permanently developed leadership in the country and we love that that leadership is now focused on ecological and sustainability issues. We hope that this launch is the tip of the iceberg of the many other things that will come and we will do together in the future, as well as, we are very happy to have this sponsorship on the shirt of our women’s team that will be used in the next Copa Libertadores,” said the president of Blanco y Negro, Alfredo Stöhwing, at the launch milestone.
For her part, María Adelaida Correa, Corporate Director of Sustainability at ISA, highlighted that this program not only marks a precedent in the history of Chilean soccer, but also “invites us to trigger a cultural change starting with the fans of the most popular club in the country.” country, to extend it to all citizens united by the same common objective: That of building a more resilient and sustainable planet. For this reason, at ISA through Conexión Puma we take on the new challenge of reconnecting people with their natural environment through a unifying, convening and exciting factor like sport.”
In parallel to the actions that will be carried out on each date, footballers and former footballers of the team, together with experts in these matters, will give more than 50 talks in municipal schools to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment.
For Tamara Ortega, Executive Director of Fundación Basura, “this collaboration marks a milestone in national sports through which we will be able to celebrate the first carbon neutral match in Chile. It is important to join forces that allow us to transform our culture and society with the aim of building a healthy planet for present and future generations.”
The alliance that commits the club to follow a roadmap to achieve its carbon neutrality as a centenary milestone in 2025, will be presented to fans with a significant milestone before starting the match scheduled for Saturday, September 23, which will face Colo-Colo with Cobresal at the Monumental Stadium.
For Suzanne Wylie, executive director of Fundación Reforestemos, “Restoring the native forest is a transversal task, and this alliance demonstrates that soccer – a sport that unites all Chileans – is a space in which great changes can be generated. Deforestation is the second cause of climate change, so it is vital to work to combat it when we talk about sustainability and neutrality. This Saturday’s milestone, which involves its fans, is an excellent start to the route to face Colo Colo’s new mission as a team.”
More information at conexionpuma.org
