‘Sustainability is Hard’: Alcohol Firm BrewDog Loses 250,000 Trees in ‘Disastrous’ Publicly Funded Sapling Initiative

(Photo: BrewDog)

In 2021, the Scotland-based alcohol firm BrewDog pledged to plant one tree for every multipack sold of its flagship beer brand. The first saplings hit the ground in 2022, and a little over a year later, the project is still struggling to find its roots.

According to CEO and co-founder James Watt, around 50% of the 500,000 saplings planted through the Lost Forest program have died within their first 12 months. “Extreme” weather conditions are reportedly to blame. Watt says that the brand has managed to replant 50,000 of the lost saplings, with more to come on the horizon.

When the initiative was first unveiled, Watt claimed to have spent upwards of $10 million on the 9,300-acre estate located deep within the Scottish woodlands.

Other aspects of the project were financed through public funding. Government agency Scottish Forestry says it has awarded BrewDog over $700,000 in funds designated toward a forest fence throughout the past year. Over the next six-year period, BrewDog is entitled to around $1.4 million in funds if deadlines are met.

Watt’s plan to create “the biggest ever” forest in Scotland has been met with skepticism by locals since its inception. Though BrewDog claims that the forest is capable of “sequestering up to 550,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year,” the surrounding community fears that Watt’s purchase may drive up real estate prices in the rural area.

Following news of the sapling failure, activist Nick Kempe of Parkswatch Scotland labeled it a “disastrous project.”

Under the conditions of its grant, BrewDog is required to replant all failed sections of the Lost Forest.

“Standing up to climate change can be an incredibly daunting task and it would be all too easy to disengage; to decide to leave it to others and even to deride the efforts of those who choose to fight,” Watt wrote in a public statement. “But if everyone did that, there’d be no hope for humanity. So, we stay the course, and we don’t let setbacks, such as the one we’re currently experiencing, dishearten us.

“One thing that is for sure is that sustainability is hard. Whatever you do, you could do more. Whatever you do, there are critics who love nothing more than to tear it down,” Watt continued on in LinkedIn post.

Since hitting the market in 2008, BrewDog’s public image has teetered from prolific to problematic following a slew of controversies.

The company has been accused of ripping off packaging designs, fostering a “culture of fear” and shrugging off accusations of inappropriate behavior and abuse. In January, the company faced backlash for dropping its employees’ pay below the real living wage.

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