From steps to forests: How Ancotrans turned movement into climate action

In October 2025, Ancotrans partnered with Trefadder to launch Walk for Trees across its European workforce — a two-week initiative designed to connect employee wellbeing with measurable climate action.

The result was a highly engaging programme where everyday activity translated directly into real-world environmental impact. Employees collectively walked more than 10 million steps, resulting in the planting of 500 trees in Norwegian climate forests.

About Ancotrans

Ancotrans is Northern Europe’s leading container transport company, founded in Copenhagen in 1882 and still family-owned across five generations. From its origins as a single horse and carriage operation, the company has grown into a pan-European logistics provider with offices across Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands.

With a clear ambition of achieving 100% CO₂ neutrality by 2050, Ancotrans is actively investing in lower-emission transport solutions while exploring complementary nature-based climate initiatives.

The Partnership

Trefadder is a leading provider of nature-based carbon removal solutions and established Norway’s first commercial climate forest in 2019. Through its Walk for Trees platform, the company enables organisations to link employee activity directly to tree planting in certified climate forest projects.

Each step taken by employees is automatically tracked and converted into measurable climate action — making sustainability tangible, participatory, and easy to engage with.

The Initiative

The Walk for Trees programme was rolled out across Ancotrans’s European offices over a two-week period. Employees were invited to track their daily steps using the Trefadder app, with collective activity determining the number of trees planted.

The initiative quickly gained traction across the organisation:
• 130 employees participated across multiple countries
• 10+ million steps were recorded in total
• 500 trees planted in Norwegian climate forests

One employee alone contributed more than 380,000 steps, highlighting strong individual engagement alongside collective effort.

Environmental Impact

The trees planted through the initiative deliver long-term, measurable climate benefits:
• ~125 tonnes of CO₂ removed (based on ~250 kg per tree over its lifetime)
• Improved air quality through natural filtration
• Soil stabilisation on previously low-carbon land
• Habitat creation for biodiversity
• Long-term carbon storage in biomass and soil

The forests are established on previously cultivated land with low carbon content, ensuring additionality and real climate value. All projects are developed in collaboration with local landowners and follow recognised standards for verification and monitoring.

ESG Alignment

Environmental

The initiative directly supports Ancotrans’s ambition of achieving CO₂ neutrality by 2050. Rather than replacing operational reductions, it complements them by contributing to certified, nature-based carbon removal.

What moved me wasn’t just the 500 trees or the 125 tonnes of CO₂ — it was 130 colleagues choosing to be part of it. Sustainability only works when people feel it.
— Anne Kathrine Steenbjerge, CEO, Ancotrans

Social

Walk for Trees transformed sustainability into a shared, human experience:
• Strengthened employee wellbeing through physical activity
• Built cross-border engagement across offices and roles
• Made climate action visible and personal

The initiative reinforced Ancotrans’s long-standing culture of togetherness and collaboration.

Governance

As a fifth-generation family business, Ancotrans prioritises long-term, responsible growth. Partnering with Trefadder ensured:
• Full traceability from planting to forest development
• Verified carbon removal aligned with international standards
• Transparency and credibility in ESG reporting

This reduces greenwashing risk and strengthens trust with stakeholders.