On 27 January, the Green Tiger representative organisation was established; its purpose is to connect Estonian enterprises to jointly make the economy more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

18 founding members and 6 members of the Green Tiger representative organisation participated in the virtual establishment celebration: Wolfscape, Arcwood, Cronimet Nordic, Swedbank, LHV, Puhastusimport, A Le Coq, Agrone, Bolt, Thermory, Vestman Energia, Tere, Kaamos, Alexela, Ragn-Sells, Estonian Business School, Scandium Kinnisvara, Ülemiste City, Port of Tallinn, DeltaE Inseneribüroo, Sorainen, Fotografiska, R-Kiosk, and Nordic Spedition.

According to one leader of the Green Tiger, Mihkel Tammo, the establishment of the representative organisation is driven by the belief that a common and coordinated green leap has a larger effect on society than individual steps. The aim is to group together up to 250 members; 18 founding members and 6 members have already joined.

‘The private sector has taken clear initiative and responsibility because it understands that the world has changed, and we cannot proceed by only being growth-orientated and exhausting nature even further. Companies are more flexible and can implement changes more quickly’ said Tammo. He added that 250 is a big enough number for what is created on the level of companies to start having a larger effect in society, and to provide an example to companies that are still looking for opportunities to reform their services or production in a way that these do not burden the environment. On the other hand, this number is small enough for the Green Tiger to able to deal with each member individually and guide them towards sustainability.

According to another leader of the Green Tiger, Eva Truuverk, the representative organisation is very practical in its content. ‘We provide our members with an opportunity to participate in the Green Tiger Academy, where companies develop a plan for reducing their environmental impact in cooperation with experts and mentors. We already have a positive experience from the Green Tiger pilot programme which lasted for nearly half a year, where 15 companies and organisations formulated their environmental goals and are now gradually moving towards solutions.

Companies have started to reduce their footprint in transport, production, customer communication and waste management,’ said Eva Truuverk. ‘Throughout all of this work, they also map the legislative obstacles which hinder companies from acting sustainably, and the amendment of which is one of the aims of the Green Tiger. Thus, the aim of this year is to deal with the wasting of food, reducing paper invoices, and the topic of green procurements.’

In addition to the Academy, the Green Tiger Think Tank has also gathered for half a year; in it, Estonian entrepreneurs have mapped the core issues of different economic sectors and have provided their vision for reforming, in cooperation with the government sector, the current economy that is orientated towards overconsumption and wastage, so that balance, sustainability, recycling, valorisation, and appreciation of nature become the aims. The Think Tank has already shaped their positions and proposals on seven different topics. Proposals are validated in cooperation with scientists, and the vision of a balanced economy will be presented to the government at the beginning of 2022.