Dole Announces Earth Day
Agreement To Offset
Carbon Emissions From
Transport of Bananas and
Pineapples in Costa Rica
The Dole Food Company
announced yesterday that
its operating division
in Costa Rica, Standard
Fruit Company de Costa
Rica S.A., will purchase
carbon offsets from the
Costa Rican Government’s
program in amounts equal
to the carbon dioxide
emissions generated by
the inland transport of
Dole produced bananas
and pineapples.
This ground-breaking
announcement marks the
first time that a
private company has
committed to offset its
emissions from the
transport of its
finished products within
Costa Rica.
The announcement is part
of a broader agreement
Dole signed last August
with the Government of
Costa Rica's Ministerio
de Ambiental y Energia (MINAE)
- Ministry of the
Environment and Energy
- and the National
Strategy for Climate
Change to produce a
carbon neutral supply
chain for bananas and
pineapples. Costa Rica
is seeking to become
carbon neutral by 2021.
"Dole is determined to
take the lead in
environmentally friendly
production and
distribution methods,"
said David A. DeLorenzo,
President and Chief
Executive Officer of
Dole Food Company, Inc.
"We are committed to
helping the Government
of Costa Rica achieve
their sustainability
ambitions."
Roberto Dobles, MINAE
minister said : "This
agreement that Dole
signed yesterday is an
important first step
within a global vision.
It is a first step
toward a great
contribution by Dole for
the consolidation of the
country strategy to be
climate neutral for our
bicentennial."
Under the accord, the
National Forestry
Financing Fund ("Fonafifo")
will offer Dole carbon
credits from
government-certified
forestry projects that
will annually sequester
an equivalent amount of
carbon from the
atmosphere as that
emitted by fossil fuel
use in road and rail
transportation. In
essence, the Dole
products will be "carbon
neutral" with regards to
transportation from
company-owned packing
plants to the ports of
export in Costa Rica.
The carbon credit
approach is one of many
strategies that Dole is
employing to neutralize
the carbon footprint
resulting from the
growing, harvesting,
packaging and
distribution of the
company's bananas and
pineapples in Costa
Rica. Reforestation
programs are occurring
and thousands of trees
are being planted on
Dole plantations in
Costa Rica, including
local farms and
neighboring communities.
Danilo Roman, General
Manager of Dole Standard
Fruit de Costa Rica S.A.,
commented: "Among the
many steps we have taken
to reduce emissions at
source is optimization
of fertilizers to
deliver nutrients more
effectively. In this way
we can directly reduce
the emission of
nitrous-oxide, a potent
green-house gas. We
expect that this program
will decrease emissions
by over 12% or nearly
9,000 tons of CO2
equivalents per year."
Renieri Nuñez, Pineapple
Operations Manager,
added: "The Company has
always been a pioneer in
environmental good
practices. We are now
looking at everything
from ways to improve the
efficiency of tractors,
to employee training to
operate machinery in a
more fuel efficient
manner, to lower the
carbon footprint of our
agricultural operations.
We hope to work together
with our supply chain
partners in furthering
climate change
mitigation practices."
Dole Food Company, Inc.,
with 2007 revenues of
us$6.9 billion, is the
world's largest producer
and marketer of
high-quality fresh
fruit, fresh vegetables
and fresh-cut flowers.
Dole markets a growing
line of packaged and
frozen foods and is a
produce industry leader
in nutrition education
and research. |
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