Günsan Elektrik has combined the shopping experience with a meaningful social responsibility project. Günsan shopping boxes no longer just carry products; they also provide a warm home for stray animals and become indispensable tools for daily household repairs. Launched with the slogan "Don't Throw Away, Recycle!", this project allows users to easily transform the boxes into cat houses or repair boxes, adding value to the environment and society.

Value is Added by Reuse, Not Recycling

Orders placed through Günsan Elektrik's online sales channel, online.gunsanelectric.com, are now shipped in multi-purpose boxes. These specially designed boxes can be easily folded by users to become a cat house or portable repair kit. This creative transformation not only helps reduce environmental waste but also adds functionality to living spaces.

A Warm Home for Little Friends

Designed for animals that need a warm and sheltered space, especially during the winter months, the boxes make every Günsan purchase meaningful. This way, users not only meet their needs but also provide a warm home for a stray animal.

Repair Work Is Now More Organized

The boxes also double as portable repair kits for everyday repairs. Their durable construction and practical design allow for the organized storage of small hand tools like cables, screwdrivers, and measuring instruments. A practical tool for home users, the repair kit is more than just a box.

Meaningful Steps for a Sustainable Future

Günsan Elektrik's environmentally friendly packaging approach both enhances the user experience and contributes to a sustainable production and consumption model. This project, which embraces a reuse approach beyond recycling, aims to create small but impactful change.

Source: HORECA TREND and Gunsan Electric

We owe two out of every three breaths we take to the seas. However, the underwater ecosystems that provide that breath are becoming more fragile every day due to reasons such as the climate crisis and human pressure. In fact, according to WWF's "2024 Living Planet Report", the populations of marine species monitored in the world have decreased by an average of 50 percent in the last 56 years.

This striking data alone draws attention to the importance of protecting marine life. Individuals can also make important contributions to the future of ecosystems. The fourth phase of the “+2022 Breath to the Sea” project, which was launched in 1 in collaboration with Anadolu Efes and the Marine Life Protection Association (DYKD), was implemented with this understanding. In this new phase, the Blue Atlas application, developed by DYKD and implemented with the support of Anadolu Efes, was shared with the public.

The application, which will be Türkiye's first digital underwater biodiversity map, will be created with the participation of citizens as well as professional divers and sailors. Thanks to the application, users will be able to record their observations of marine life in the system, along with location information and visuals. Data collected from the field will be examined by experts and will take its place in the system. It is also aimed for this data to contribute to scientific and strategic studies such as climate modeling and the determination of new marine protected areas.

In addition, citizens can learn about marine life through the application. In this way, not only is underwater life documented, but also the bond established with nature is strengthened and social awareness is increased. Users are both informed and become active protectors of the seas through the application.

Onur Altürk, President and CEO of Anadolu Efes Beer Group, said the following in his statement on the issue:

“As a company born in Anatolian soil 56 years ago, today we fly our flag in more than 70 countries. We focus on projects that will create long-term value with the aim of strengthening society, the environment and our ecosystem consisting of all our stakeholders. We work to contribute to a responsible, conscious and sustainable future.

According to the World Economic Forum's 2022 data, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are among the top three global risks of the next decade. In our prioritization analyses, we saw that this issue has become more prominent in the eyes of our stakeholders. In this context, we decided to set out to revive the corals in Marmara with the Denize +2022 Breath project, which we launched with DYKD in 1. We took steps to create new coral gardens and also established underwater monitoring systems.

This year, we are taking our efforts even further and contributing to the mapping of underwater life by supporting the Blue Atlas application. This is not only a scientific data project, but also a journey to redefine our relationship with nature, a collective memory and a call to all of us.”

DYKD President Volkan Narcı made the following statement:

“The main purpose of the Blue Atlas application is to digitally record the creatures living in the seas and wetlands, to make areas that need to be protected visible and to increase public awareness. The reason why we care so much about this issue is that even if we look at the Mediterranean alone, the total fish population has decreased by 50 percent in the last 34 years.

Protecting marine life is a necessity for nature, climate and the future. As part of this effort, Blue Atlas aims to monitor, document and transform nature into a collective memory. This digital diary, which will track the species in our seas, reminds us all that protecting the seas is not only a scientific responsibility, but also a cultural, economic and ethical one.

The +1 Breath to the Sea project has so far carried out pioneering applications such as coral transplantation, underwater sound recordings, and monitoring systems. With the Blue Atlas, these studies will reach a wider audience, the database on marine life will be enriched, and areas that need to be protected will be revealed much more clearly.”

This project, in which the General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquatic Products of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is also a stakeholder, concretely demonstrates the role of public-private sector-NGO cooperation in the protection of marine ecosystems.

Source: HORECA TREND and Anadolu EFES, Anadolu Efes and Marine Life Protection Association (DYKD)

The proposal, which is Türkiye’s first “Climate Law”, was submitted to the Parliament after passing through the committee in February and was withdrawn in April; it was announced to the public that it would be brought to a newly established committee with the promise that a more participatory and transparent process would be carried out. However, the promise of participation for this critical legal regulation process, which concerns all segments of society, was not kept. The proposal was directly put on the agenda of the Parliamentary General Assembly in June without meaningfully including civil society organizations, local governments and subject experts working in the field of climate in the process.

The law, which was discussed and accepted in the TBMM General Assembly on July 2-3, prioritized legalizing the Emissions Trading System (ETS), which turns clean air into a commodity that can be bought and sold, rather than strengthening greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation policies against the climate crisis. While this system opened up new areas of profit for companies, social justice and climate justice goals were left in the background.

Deniz Ataç, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TEMA Foundation, pointed out that the law is not a “Climate Law” but an “Emissions Trading System Law” and said, “Unfortunately, a participatory and transparent process was not implemented in the preparation process of such a critical law concerning the future of society and nature. Instead of a holistic and science-based solution map to reduce the negative effects of the climate crisis, a narrow framework that prioritizes economic concerns was presented. The result was a law that prioritizes emissions trading, not society and nature.”

Paris Agreement and Scientific Facts Were Not Observed

Drawing attention to the fact that the law in its current form does not take into account scientific facts, Ataç said, “This approach also contradicts the spirit of the Paris Agreement. The goal of limiting global temperature increase to 1,5°C, as determined by the Paris Agreement, is one of the most important international commitments to which Türkiye is a party. However, this critical goal was not explicitly included in the Climate Law that was adopted; even the net zero emission target of 2053 was not defined as a binding provision.” He stated that many climate laws around the world include such goals in a clear, explicit and verifiable manner, and that Türkiye’s Climate Law contradicts scientific facts and the international agreements to which it is a party in this respect.

Fossil Fuel Phase-Out and Just Transition Ignored

Another of the most striking shortcomings of the law was the lack of a clear roadmap for the phase-out from fossil fuels. However, an effective fight against the climate crisis, whose negative effects are increasing due to human activities, requires the gradual reduction of fossil fuel use.

In addition, as social inequalities in society deepen with the climate crisis, it is vital to protect the most vulnerable groups such as women, children, farmers, laborers and the poor. Unfortunately, the law does not provide any concrete guarantees for the needs of these groups.

In addition to all this, the fact that only 10 percent of ETS revenues are allocated to just transition practices that will not leave anyone behind and that primarily include workers, their families and local people clearly shows that the law prioritizes capital, not citizens.

Emphasizing that all these regulations are quite insufficient to protect nature and society, Ataç said, “The steps that need to be taken against the negative effects of the climate crisis should be shaped by an approach that is compatible with scientific facts and takes into account the needs of all segments of society. The Climate Law, on the other hand, does not take into account vital issues such as the phase-out from fossil fuels and a just transition. Moreover, the law does not include an independent inspection institution that will monitor and supervise all these activities.”

“With the Climate Law, Nature and Humanity are the Losers”

TEMA Foundation Board Chairman Deniz Ataç emphasized that it is essential to protect all our natural assets and prioritize public interest for a more livable future, and said:

“The losers with the Climate Law were nature and humanity. As the TEMA Foundation, we believe that this law does not include steps to protect nature and society, is a regulation that is not based on scientific foundations, is not participatory and ignores the principles of social justice. In its current form, the law carries the risk of preventing Türkiye from carrying out an effective and holistic fight against the climate crisis. Our expectation is that this law, which contains these major deficiencies, will be rejected by the Constitutional Court before it causes further damage.”

Source: HORECA TREND and THEME Foundation