FC Köln's home match against VfL Wolfsburg on 25 February was all about Sustainability. Literally on the jerseys of the Billy Goats.
In order to make its commitment to climate protection better known to the general public, REWE, as the main sponsor of 1. FC Köln, took up a prominent advertising space: the Bundesliga team appeared at the home match on Saturday (25 February) with the words "NABU Klimafonds" on its jersey. In doing so, REWE emphasised the importance of climate protection, which affects everyone. The shirts of the two run-in children's teams also featured the logos of REWE and the NABU Climate Fund. The LED boards with corresponding motifs also paid tribute to the climate fund. The current advert on the same topic was also shown on the stadium screens.
Lionel Souque and Steffen Baumgart presented the jersey to the media
"Climate change is the greatest global challenge of our time. We want to use the broad public and media attention of a Bundesliga match to draw attention to the NABU Climate Fund. Over the next five years, we will use financial resources from the NABU Climate Fund to invest at least 25 million euros in the rewetting of peatlands. After all, peatlands are true climate heroes and need our help. Intact moors are considered the most effective carbon reservoirs in the world; they store twice as much carbon as all of the world's forests," says Lionel Souque, CEO of the REWE Group.
NABU Federal Managing Director Leif Miller: "It is above all the serious commitment of the economy that will decide whether we can still get the global climate catastrophe under control. REWE Group is leading the way as a company on this Bundesliga match day and giving the NABU Climate Fund great visibility. Together with 1. FC Köln, REWE is combining the enthusiasm and emotionality of football with the protection of nature and the climate. As nature conservationists, we are delighted to be able to draw attention to our nature conservation projects with a positive impact on the climate in this environment. This concerns us all and is a good thing."
"Climate change is teamwork. Only together can we overcome the most important challenge for our future. That is why we are delighted that numerous FC partners are supporting our efforts in the areas of Sustainability and climate protection and, conversely, that our partners are also using FC as a communication platform for their own initiatives. It is a special sign of this joint commitment that our main partner REWE is using prominent advertising space such as the lettering on the jerseys and the perimeter boards on this match day at the RheinEnergie Stadium to further sensitise people to these issues. A big thank you to REWE for this," explains FC managing director Markus Rejek.
Match scene of the Bundesliga match Cologne-Wolfsburg I Photo: Thomas Faehnrich
Together with NABU, REWE has established the NABU Climate Fund as a particularly important component of its commitment to sustainability. The money from the fund is used to realise nature conservation projects with a positive impact on biodiversity and climate. All of these projects take place in Germany or the EU - so they can be better controlled and the whole planet still benefits.
Together with NABU, REWE sees great potential for effective climate protection in the renaturation of moors in line with the German government's "Natural Climate Protection Action Programme". Although moors only cover three per cent of the world's land area, they are ideal carbon reservoirs. Together with NABU, they are being restored to their original form as climate protectors through renaturalisation. The first NABU climate fund project will be the restoration of 200 hectares of raised bog in the Ahlenmoor near Cuxhaven - currently the largest bog conservation project in Germany.
