• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

  • About
    • Ambassador from the future
  • Past lives
    • Professional
      • Volans
      • SustainAbility
      • CounterCurrent
      • Boards & Advisory Boards
      • Awards & Listings
    • Personal
      • Family
      • Other Influences
      • Education
      • Photography
      • Music
      • Cycling
    • Website
  • Speaking
    • Media
    • Exhibitions
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Reports
    • Articles & Blogs
    • Contributions
    • Tweets
    • Unpublished Writing
  • Journal
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Flying Down To Paraná

John Elkington · 23 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

The adventures continue. Yesterday, we were flown to Paraná in a small, private Citation jet – though we were assured that the emissions were being offset as part of the previous day’s event. Four Klabin people accompanied us, including Klabin’s Chief Technology Officer, Francisco César Razzolini.

Among other things we were given a guided tour of: the Klabin pulp mill – where we saw different stages of the Puma project, the biggest investment in Klabin’s history; one of a series of smallholdings helping the landless find a footing; and the company-sponsored ecology park, where we watched an operation being carried out on a maned wolf.

In the evening we went out for a beer in Harmonia, where many Klabin people live, staying overnight at the Klabin hotel there. Then, this (very cold) morning we visited the Klabin technology centre nearby, being shown a range of products, old and new.

Next, we were invited to plant another tree each, this time within Harmonia, behind an environmental centre. Louise planted a Copaíba, whereas in my case the sapling was a Sibipiruna. As I said to Louise after yesterday’s rather more informal planting, it’s as if you leave something of your soul in the soil – in a good way.

Then we were flown back to São Paulo, clear skies permitting a very different view of the landscape than we could see through yesterday’s clouds.

Ready to fly
Landed in Paraná
Guard dog, albeit very friendly
Visiting one of a number of farms supported by Klabin
The cabbages look healthy
Courgettes/zucchini take cover
Compost material based on Klabin waste materials
Lula territory, as we visit a local village for lunch
Some of the delightful people who hosted us
On display
A backdrop of campaigns by the landless, against exclusion, poverty and ‘green deserts’
Louise planting her tree
Juliana plants another tree
Getting my hands dirty, planting an Ipê sapling
The Klabin pulp mill
Francisco gives us a panorama
One of the mountains of wood chips
Insider’s view
Louise and Gonzalo (front) Juliana and I (back): courtesy of Klabin
Gonzalo and Louise in electric runabout at the ecology park
Maned wolf being operated on
Paper in natural form
Gonzalo, Uinston and Francisco
A game demonstrating how water always seeks the lowest path
Sunset
This morning, Louise and Francisco at the Technology Centre
Being introduced to new products
Cameras everywhere
Native (apparently) bamboo, close by where we are due to plant our trees
‘My’ tree
Heading out
Sample of Klabin’s ‘mosaic’ planting, mixing plantations and areas of natural forest
Other landforms spotted en route back to São Paulo

Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

Recent Comments

  • Carl McCullough on Burning Skies, 1968/9
  • David Monteith on Reminder of Glencot Years
  • John O'Brien on Anthropy 2022

Journal Archive

About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

Contact

john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

John Elkington

Copyright © 2023 John Elkington. All rights reserved. Log in