– In Madrid, BKT's course in the realm of solidarity moves on. This time it is about our planet's suffering, and in particular that of the Amazon rainforest. Deforestation has never been so alarming as in recent months – a widespread practice that is becoming more and more difficult to impede.
As a small gesture, on September 26 in Madrid, Mr. Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director of BKT, handed over a check for 5,000 euro to Cesvi, an Italian NPO operating since 1985 in the field of international solidarity, to sustain the project “Save the Amazon rainforest”. A small but symbolic gesture that gave Cesvi the opportunity to tell the project story to an international audience.
Madrid was actually the setting where the official announcement of BKT as Official Global Partner of LaLiga, Spain, took place – undoubtedly one of the most popular football championships worldwide. The presence of international press provided Cesvi with the opportunity to demonstrate its strong social commitment, in particular in Amazonia.
The friendship between Cesvi and BKT and a common engagement in these territories is nothing new. Thanks to the recreational engagement project “Play and stay green!” at the Bauma trade show a few months ago, 350 trees have been planted and protected in the Amazon rainforest.
The economic contribution received in Madrid, instead, will enable Cesvi to further sustain local communities that are in desperate need of protection from any point of view.
The recent fires in Brasil's Amazon have focused public and media attention to the need of taking action to protect the world's largest lung and its local communities. Amazonia is, indeed, the rainforest that is home to the worldwide richest variety of both animal and plant species. According to a study conducted by NASA in 2011, each hectare of the Amazon rainforest absorbs about 125 and 200 tons of CO2. Nonetheless, just in the month of July 2019, a surface corresponding to 1,345 square meters of Amazonia was destroyed. A severe damage, if we consider that the destroyed part of the rainforest would have absorbed the sum of Norway´s and Switzerland's CO2 emissions in a year.
“As a global brand, we have a great responsibility,” Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director of BKT pointed out on the occasion of the event in Madrid. “A responsibility towards the community we represent – I am referring to India, our home country – but also towards the less fortunate, and towards those suffering from the consequences of climate change. That is why we feel it is our responsibility to be a carrier of the message to care for the environment and the people living within.”
Our planet is in danger, and BKT is fully aware of it committing itself to research into sustainable processes and materials; starting from the first wind power plants installed in 2004 at the Indian production site in Bhiwadi to the most recent research center in Bhuj, which was inaugurated in 2017, where intense activities heading at a sustainable future are in full progress.
Hence, as a leading global Off-Highway tire manufacturer, BKT pursues its path of growth under the sign of social responsibility by sustaining CESVI.
The company's business concept is deeply rooted in ethics, displaying around the world not only products, but also projects, values, and ideas - fundamental elements of its mission, namely quality, technology, innovation, services, but also care for the community, the environment, and people's future.
