Norway's Kon-Tiki Museum returns artifacts to Chile's remote Easter Island

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Artifacts and human remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist in the late 1940s are being returned by a museum in Oslo to Chile’s remote territory of Easter Island in the mid-Pacific, the Kon-Tiki Museum said Wednesday.

In 1947, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed on a log raft named Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 101 days to prove his theory — that the South Sea Islands were settled by seafarers from South America.

He brought 5,600 objects back from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. This is the third time objects taken by him are being returned.

Many have been stored and displayed at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway's capital, and some were given back in 1986 and others 2006. The return has been a collaboration between the museum, Chile and Rapa Nui's local authorities.

"My grandfather would have been proud of what we are about to achieve,” said Liv Heyerdahl, head of the museum and the explorer's granddaughter.

She told the Norwegian news agency NTB that the objects were brought to Norway "with a promise that they would one day be returned.”

Among those that are being returned this time around are human remains called Ivi Tepuna and sculpted stones.

A nine-person delegation had traveled to Norway this week to collect the items. Four of them spent the night at the Oslo museum, alongside the remains as part of a ritual ceremony to take back the spirits of the remains.

“First one must awaken the spirits, and then speak to them in our original language. Food is then prepared to eat a meal with them, where the smell of the food goes to the spirits,” a member of the delegation, Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcón, told NTB.

“It is important that those who own the culture are involved in the process," Liv Heyerdahl was quoted as saying by NTB. "Of course these remains should be returned, and it feels right because they belong to the Rapa Nui.”

In 2019, an agreement was signed in Santiago, Chile, during a visit by Norway's King Harald. However, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped all activities in 2020, the museum said. Harald met with the Rapa Nui delegation on Tuesday.

A book about Thor Heyerdahl's voyage — he died in 2002 at the age of 87 — has become an international bestseller, and his film of the journey won an Academy Award for best documentary in 1951.

Rapa Nui is best known for the hundreds of moai — monolithic human figures carved centuries ago by this remote Pacific island’s Rapanui people.

Covering about 164 square kilometers (63 square miles) and home to about 7,700 people, half of them with Rapa Nui ancestry, Easter Island was formed at least 750,000 years ago by volcanic eruptions and is one of the world’s most isolated inhabited islands.

Located 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) from South America, Rapa Nui was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. In 2019, it was officially renamed “Rapa Nui-Easter Island” from its previous name of just Easter Island.

Norway's King Harald, centre, and Queen Sonja, right, welcome Miguel Pate Haoa, at the Royal Palace, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Aaserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Rapa Nui Chilean politician Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcon attends the "repatriation" ceremony for artifacts and human remains, at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Norway's King Harald, centre, and Queen Sonja, right, welcome Rapa Nui Chilean politician Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcon, at the Royal Palace, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Aaserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

Rapa Nui Chilean politician Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcon attends the "repatriation" ceremony for artifacts and human remains, at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Moai statues stand on Ahu Tongariki near the Rano Raraku volcano, top, on Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, Chile, Nov. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)

Norway's King Harald, centre, and Queen Sonja, right, welcome Rapa Nui Chilean politician Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcon, at the Royal Palace, in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

In this photo provided by the Kon-Tiki Museum press service on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, people look at artifacts and human remains taken from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, by a Norwegian explorer in the late 1940s, during the "repatriation" ceremony at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Kon-Tiki Museum press service via AP)

Kon-Tiki Museum's director Liv Heyerdahl, right, and Rapa Nui Chilean politician Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcon attend the "repatriation" ceremony for artifacts and human remains, at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

In this photo provided by the Kon-Tiki Museum press service on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, a person holds an artifact taken from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, by a Norwegian explorer in the late 1940s, during the "repatriation" ceremony at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Kon-Tiki Museum press service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Kon-Tiki Museum press service on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, head of the museum Liv Heyerdahl, second from right, attends the "repatriation" ceremony at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Kon-Tiki Museum press service via AP)

Kon-Tiki Museum's director Liv Heyerdahl, right, and Rapa Nui Chilean politician Laura Tarita Rapu Alarcon attend the "repatriation" ceremony for artifacts and human remains, at the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 14, 2024--

Sports company PUMA has announced its new Vision 2030 sustainability goals, which expand on the strong progress the brand has made.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241114901121/en/

“With Vision 2030 we have elevated and evolved our current 10FOR25 sustainability goals to achieve impact on a larger scale across our business in climate, circularity and human rights. We are setting the bar higher to stay true to our responsibility to be FOREVER. BETTER. throughout our business, for people and the planet,” said Anne-Laure Descours, Chief Sourcing Officer.

PUMA has set new greenhouse gas reduction targets, which were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as aligned with a 1.5-degree scenario. By 2030, PUMA seeks to cut its absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90% (market based) from a 2017 baseline year and has committed to reduce absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain and logistics by 33% compared to 2017, while continuing to strive for strong growth.

Additional climate targets for 2030 include increased renewable energy use at PUMA’s core suppliers and a focus on increasing the use of less carbon-intensive materials. In 2023, PUMA produced 8 out of 10 products from recycled or certified materials and is well on track to achieve the 9 of 10 target set for 2025.

PUMA has already made strong progress in reducing its greenhouse gas emission over the past years and it announced that it had reached its previous science-based target seven years ahead of schedule. PUMA reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 24% in 2023 (market based) compared to 2022 and had its efforts in decarbonization and climate transparency ranked highly by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2023, Fashion Revolution and Financial Times in 2024.

Circularity remains high on the agenda for 2030, including targets to enter more circular business models and to introduce re-sell and repair in selected markets. New material targets for 2030 include using 100% recycled polyester fabric. In Apparel, 30% of the polyester fabric will be Fibre-to-Fibre recycled, while 20% of cotton fabric will also be from recycled sources. The brand plans to invest in next-generation material research options with a focus on footwear and will continue scaling up textile-to-textile recycling. PUMA already announced this year that it had produced millions of replica football jerseys primarily from recycled textile waste through its RE:FIBRE programme.

PUMA’s Human Rights targets for 2030 in its own operations include closing the gender pay gap in all countries and fostering diversity, equity and inclusion. Targets focused on Human Rights in the Supply Chain include training 400,000 workers on Human Rights, a progressive salary increase towards a living wage and a zero gender pay gap at core factories by 2030.

Watch the video here.

For more detailed information on the Vision 2030 targets, please visit https://about.puma.com/en/sustainability.

There’s only one Forever. Let’s make it Better.

PUMA

PUMA is one of the world’s leading sports brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. For more than 75 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Basketball, Golf, and Motorsports. It collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs about 20,000 people worldwide, and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany.

PUMA Headquarters at Herzogenaurach (Photo: Business Wire)