Displaying items by tag: FSC

abiti122011Resolute Forest Products Inc. (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) recently learned from a Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Canada press release that FSC has requested that the Rainforest Alliance certification body extend the temporary suspension of one of Resolute's two certificates in Quebec's Lac-Saint-Jean region for six months, until July 2, 2015.

"I am quite surprised by FSC Canada's last-minute intervention, which to my knowledge is unprecedented," said Richard Garneau, president and chief executive officer of Resolute. "I note that FSC Canada has indicated that it has identified possible solutions to avoid 'unfairly penalizing' Resolute, according to its president, François Dufresne, quoted in the December 21, 2014 edition of the newspaper Le Progrès Dimanche. We are eager to meet with Mr. Dufresne and discuss solutions for reinstating our FSC certificates."

The extension of the temporary suspension is intended to give the Quebec government time to settle its dispute with the Cree First Nation, which dates back to 2002, and to resolve issues with its caribou conservation plan, the two issues that led to the temporary suspension of Resolute's certificates in the Lac-Saint-Jean area.

"Naturally, we would prefer to have our certificates reinstated, but it is clear that Resolute cannot resolve the two major stumbling blocks, and in view of the auditors' interpretations that led to these temporary suspensions, we question whether it is possible for the government to fully address the concerns without major socio-economic impacts on employment and the well-being of communities," added Garneau.

It is also interesting to note that only the Lac-Saint-Jean certificate has been extended, while the Mistassini-Péribonka certificate, which expired on December 3, 2014, is not treated with the same measure of flexibility even though it was alleged to suffer the same defect related to the caribou conservation plan.

"We look forward to clear proposals from FSC Canada for resolving the two issues that are responsible for the temporary suspension of the two certificates, while maintaining the viability of our company and the communities in which we operate," said Richard Garneau. "We are also asking FSC Canada to reconcile the regional and provincial caribou conservation action plans, and on implementation of Motion 65, introduced by Greenpeace and adopted at the FSC's last General Assembly, held in September in Seville, Spain. The motion, which calls for preservation of 80% of intact forest landscapes, is scheduled to come into effect at the end of 2016."

In light of recent events, Resolute believes it is important for FSC Canada to establish an independent comparative analysis of all the audits conducted in recent years in Quebec and Ontario, according to the FSC boreal standard, in order to compare auditors' interpretations and requirements, as well as the efforts made by certificate holders to meet these requirements. FSC Canada should proceed with this exercise for the sake of fairness and transparency for all certificate holders; this goes to the credibility of the standard itself.

"We remain convinced that such an analysis would clearly demonstrate to our employees, communities, governments and customers, that Resolute is a leader in sustainable forest management and would underscore our ongoing commitment to balancing the three sustainability pillars: environmental, social and economic," added Garneau.

Resolute remains committed to the voluntary certification of 100% of the forests it manages to one or more of three internationally recognized sustainable forest management standards used in Canada and recognized world-wide, namely, Sustainable Forest Initiative® (SFI®), FSC and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). In addition, the company continues to be one of the largest holders of FSC sustainable forest management certificates in Canada and recently successfully renewed its certificates in the Mauricie, Abitibi and North Shore regions of Quebec.

About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, specialty papers, market pulp and wood products. The Company owns or operates nearly 40 pulp and paper mills and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea, and power generation assets in Canada. Marketing its products in close to 90 countries, Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to at least one of three internationally recognized sustainable forest management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Resolute and other member companies of the Forest Products Association of Canada, as well as a number of environmental organizations, are partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to conservation issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of sustainability linked to human activities:  environmental, social and economic.

Resolute is proud to be ranked by Corporate Knights as one of Canada's Best 50 Corporate Citizens for 2014. Corporate Knights is an organization recognized globally for its transparent and objective approach to measuring corporate sustainability performance. Resolute Forest Products and Richard Garneau, president and chief executive officer, have also been named to Canada's Clean50, recognizing leaders who have made the greatest contributions to sustainable development or clean capitalism in Canada.

SOURCE Resolute Forest Products Inc.

For further information: Investors: Rémi G. Lalonde, Vice President and Treasurer, 514 394-2345, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Media and Others: Karl Blackburn, Director, Canadian Public Affairs and Government Relations,514 250-4364, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Canadian News

In 2011, ACE members Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc purchased 85% of their wood fibre from either FSC certified or FSC Controlled Wood sources. This marks an important increase from 2010, where ACE carton manufacturers sourced only 78% from FSC certified or FSC Controlled Wood sources.

fsc tet

 

On 20 November 2012 the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment announced an increase in verified traceable wood fibres that are being sourced globally for beverage cartons. This marks significant progress by ACE carton manufacturers towards achieving full third-party verified traceability of wood fibres used in carton. ACE carton manufacturers have committed to source 100% wood fibre that is traceable to legal and acceptable sources by 2015. In addition, 40 out of the 54 converting plants that they own worldwide are FSC chain of custody certified. This number has increased by 11% compared to 2010. 
“We are delighted to see our members’ steady progress towards achieving the high targets set in 2007”, comments Katarina Molin, Director General of ACE.“Traceability is one of our industry’s most important strategic means to combat illegal logging (which is also an objective of the new European Union Timber Regulation) and equally important to avoid using socially and environmentally unacceptable sources of wood.” 

These figures come from the Proforest fifth annual report on the Chain of Custody commitment (CoC) made by ACE members Tetra Pak, Elopak and SIG Combibloc in 2007. The three companies have committed in an ‘Industry selfcommitment (the ‘ACE commitment’) including the following points: 
• Sourcing 100% wood fibre from legal and acceptable sources by 2015
• Securing CoC certification for all liquid packaging board mills by 2015
• Securing CoC certification for all beverage carton manufacturing plants by 2018

The reporting is managed by Proforest an independent verifier of natural resource management specialized in practical approaches to sustainability. 

ACE expects that the percentage of CoC certified plants will further increase in 2012.

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Friday, 21 September 2012 19:08

FSC® partners with The Gold Standard

The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) has announced on September 18th that it is entering into a strategic partnership with The Gold Standard to explore the logo1opportunities for future close collaboration between the two certification schemes. The announcement was made at the Annual Conference of The Gold Standard Foundation in Geneva. The partnership includes the CarbonFix Standard, which will be acquired by The Gold Standard to form their new carbon accounting module for forest carbon projects.
 
The parties laid down their ambitions and activities in a Memorandum of Understanding, which recognizes the FSC approach to social and environmental safeguards and the Gold Standard approach to carbon certification, respectively. The explored model for future collaboration foresees the Gold Standard build upon the global FSC Principles & Criteria for responsible forest management and will in return enable FSC to rely on The Gold Standard's robust approach to carbon accounting and benefit-sharing when FSC certified forest operations seek carbon finance.
 
"For many of our stakeholders, FSC’s partnership with The Gold Standard is a 'dream team' constellation, as it brings together the two most highly respected standards in their respective fields, who are best-placed to create the new benchmark for forest carbon projects", says Stefan Salvador, Manager of the FSC Ecosystem Services Program. "We are delighted to see and support a consolidation of carbon standards that recognize FSC's spearheading role in defining, incentivizing and monitoring responsible forest management."
 
The MoU’s ambitious work program over the coming year will provide an extensive analysis of the modalities, opportunities and challenges for an alignment between the certification schemes and will include:
 
● An assessment of market opportunities and challenges for an aligned approach towards the certification of forest carbon projects.
● A gap analysis of the standard setting, accreditation and certification procedures of the systems.
● An analysis of the compatibility (congruence and complementarity) of FSC and The Gold Standard.
● An exploration of any reputational risks arising from the Parties' schemes being associated with each other, their constituents, and new market mechanisms, buyers and claims.
● An overall examination of how the various systems can be jointly applied and mutually aligned in the most effective and credible manner, so that the schemes' beneficiaries and constituents receive the highest value from the collaborative approach chosen.
 
The feasibility of aligning the schemes’ approaches in the broader field of emerging ecosystem services markets, an area where FSC recently entered with its GEF co-funded project “ForCES – Forest Certification for Ecosystem Services”, will also be explored.
  
The Gold Standard is a globally recognized and trusted regulatory framework operated on behalf of Civil Society for the deployment of public and private capital into low carbon and development projects. Born in the carbon markets with a focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that maximize environmental integrity, safeguards and sustainable development, its ten-year track record is unmatched. Every project certified by The Gold Standard must monitor, report and verify carbon savings and sustainable development benefits for local communities. This ‘carbon for development’ philosophy has been recognized by governments, business and civil society as the most effective approach.
 
The CarbonFix Standard sets a quality benchmark for worldwide climate forestation projects. It was developed in 2007 by the non-profit organization CarbonFix in cooperation with experts in the fields of forestry, climate change and development aid sectors. CarbonFix believes that climate forestation projects are about more than just planting trees. In addition to creating new forests, CarbonFix ensures that participants act in a sustainable way. Only through the successful integration of ecological, social, and economic values it is possible to set-up and maintain a climate forestation project over the long-term.
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rfa-logoThe Rainforest Alliance today announced that Taan Forest, owned by the Haida Enterprise Corporation (HaiCo) of Haida Gwaii, in British Columbia, has successfully achieved Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, becoming the first forest in British Columbia to meet FSC standards since 2009. Haida Gwaii is an archipelago of 200 islands off the northwest coast of British Columbia renowned for both its cultural importance and unique biodiversity.

“This investment by the Haida people in achieving FSC Certification is a big step forward for Taan Forest,” said Bob Brash, president of Taan Forest. “The Haida Nation’s special relationship with their forests and environment is well known. We are extremely pleased that stringent independent audits under the world’s preeminent FSC standards confirmed as such.”
 
Taan Forest completed a series of assessments and reports over the last year led by the Rainforest Alliance. Taan is the group manager of the FSC certificate that includes Tree Farm Licence 60 and the Haida and British Columbia Timber Sales Forest Licenses within Timber Supply Area 25 on Moresby and Graham Islands, representing 884,884 acres (358,100 hectares).bg-seals

“Taan Forest was able to achieve FSC certification in just 11 months, illustrating its strong commitment to adopting the highest social and environmental standards,” said Krista West, forest management coordinator at the Rainforest Alliance. “This achievement sets a shining example to the forestry community in BC and Canada, demonstrating that FSC certification is within practical reach.”
 
“Change starts with us and the way we approach forestry,” said Guujaaw, president of the Haida Nation. “We know that we can maintain our culture, respect nature, and still derive a livelihood from the forests.”

FSC certification requirements are widely considered the “gold standard” for sustainable forest management, and the Rainforest Alliance is the leading FSC certifier worldwide. Over 167,413,895 acres (67,750,000 hectares) of forestlands worldwide have been certified to FSC standards by the Rainforest Alliance. The FSC standards cover environmental protection, wildlife protection, worker rights and safety, just wages, good living conditions and healthcare.

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Clearwater Paper Corporation has announced that the company will offer Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) certified premium and ultra-premium bath tissue, and ultra-premium paper towel products to retail customers. The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood Program performed all certification audits to ensure conformance to the FSC standards. The company shipped the first batch of these new FSC-certified ultra-premium tissue products in early June.

 

"We are delighted with Clearwater Paper's commitment to sustainability, which meets increasing consumer demand for tissue products from sustainable sources," said Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance. "Clearwater Paper has set an example through the certification of its own products; a forward thinking accomplishment that other innovative companies will follow."

 

In June 2010, Clearwater Paper began offering FSC-certified facial tissue to retail grocery private label customers. Since then, the company has applied the FSC logo and the Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM seal to millions of customer facial cartons, and currently supplies the largest case volume of FSC-certified private label products to U.S. retail chains.

 

"We are excited to further expand our customers' choices - giving them more options to use quality tissue products from FSC-certified forests," said Gordon Jones, chairman, president and CEO of Clearwater Paper. "The addition of these high-quality tissue products reinforces our position as the leading U.S. tissue manufacturer to offer FSC certified tissue products for retail sales."

 

Retailers now have a unique opportunity to feature this globally recognized certification on their premium private label tissue products. Certification allows retailers the ability to display the FSC logo and the well-known Rainforest Alliance Certified frog seal on their premium tissue products signifying strong environmental awareness for manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

 

"The combination of certified premium and ultra-premium facial products since June of last year, coupled with increases planned this year, means that products certified by the Rainforest Alliance to FSC standards represent more than 50 percent of Clearwater Paper's total retail product case volume nationwide," stated Bob DeVleming, president of Clearwater Paper's consumer products division. "That amount of product, carrying both the FSC logo and the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, offers both organizations significant exposure to the end consumer — a win-win situation for everyone involved."

 

FSC-certification indicates to consumers that the products they are purchasing come from responsible, well-managed forests where forest ecosystems are conserved and the rights of workers and their communities are protected.

 

"Clearwater Paper has paved new roads for FSC in the retail grocery private label arena," said Corey Brinkema, president of the Forest Stewardship Council-U.S. "Thanks to Clearwater Paper, we now have expanded impact and visibility in a market that is trending toward environmentally and socially responsible products."

Published in North American News
Tuesday, 28 December 2010 11:00

Three new national standards approved by FSC

FSC is pleased to announce the formal approval of the national standards for Cameroon, Mexico and Brazil. Each of these standards was produced as part of the Global Environment Fund Small and Low Intensity Managed Forest Project (GEF SLIMF Project).

FSC congratulates Cameroon on the production of its Community Forest Standard. This standard is adapted to the conditions particular to community managed forest in Cameroon. It is intended that this standard will be aligned with the Congo Basin Regional Standards process in due course.

FSC also congratulates Brazil for the production of their SLIMF standard. It will apply to forests across the whole of Brazil which meet the definition of SLIMF in the standard.  It is hoped that the SLIMF standard can aid a technical review and revision of the existing standards for Brazil.

Finally, FSC congratulate Mexico for the production of a full national standard, which covers all scales and intensities of forest management in Mexico. Having spent many years developing a national standard, Mexico was able to use the GEF project not only to produce a standard for SLIMF but also to complete their national standards process.

This project was a CIFOR-FSC UNEP/GEF funded project and FSC would like to thank partners for their contributions, both financial and technical. Following a period of closure of minor conditions on the approval, each of these standards became effective as of 1 December 2010. Please contact Richard Robertson for more information.

Published in South American News
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Monday, 06 December 2010 09:00

Winner of Danish FSC Design Award 2010 announced

FSC Denmark announced the winner of the FSC Design Award 2010 at an event in Aarhus, Denmark on 24 November 2010. Architectural student Mette Schelde of the School of Architecture in Aarhus, Denmark was awarded the prize for combining functionality and sustainability in her design.

The winning design © FSC Denmark

A record number of 77 designs competed for the prize, which includes a trip to an FSC certified forest in Brazil and the opportunity to create a prototype of her winning design using local wood species. Named “Side Table”, the winning design is simple and functional. The beautiful simplicity of the design was highlighted by the jury as a winning feature because it makes the product easy to understand and suitable for mass production.

The FSC Design Award is an annual event organized in collaboration with WWF, Nepenthes and a number of private sponsors. The Award aims to raise awareness about FSC and the responsible use of forest resources. Every year, the competition calls for carpenters, interior designers and architects to design a product using FSC certified material and to consider sustainability issues in production.

Please visit the website of FSC Denmark for more pictures and information.

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With the goal to support the harmonization of guidelines for public procurement of wood-based products within the EU, Finland has launched its public procurement policy for wood-based products earlier this year. The policy, which is now available in English, specifies that forest certification systems such as PEFC and FSC are accepted for the verification of sustainably produced wood.

The policy emphasizes that there are varying approaches to public procurement in EU Member States, which "present a number of challenges, and the need for harmonization is increasing as more and more countries implement their own steering mechanisms." Finland's goal is therefore to "support the harmonization of guidelines for the public procurement of wood-based products within the EU", and the Finnish public procurement recommendations have been drawn up to be compatible with the EU Public Procurement Directive.

"PEFC Finland welcomes the arrival of the Finnish public procurement policy as an important tool to encourage public authorities to take sustainability considerations into account in their tenders," said Auvo Kaivola, PEFC Finland Secretary General. "With Finnish public procurement estimated to be worth approximately 23 billion Euros, it has the potential to have a significant impact on the well-being of society."

Mr. Kaivola emphasized that "we especially appreciate the call for harmonization of public procurement policies across the EU. Private companies are already moving towards a more harmonized and inclusive approach concerning sustainable procurement, supporting the further uptake of forest certification and assisting organizations such as PEFC in promoting sustainable forest management in Finland and abroad."

The Finnish public procurement policy was drafted by a multi-stakeholder steering group consisting of Different Ministries (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Finance), expert organizations (Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, Motiva, Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, Finnish Forest Industries Federation), public procurement representatives (Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Hansel Ltd, City of Espoo) and the WWF.

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UPM has started testing the new Finnish FSC standard in company forests. With this testing the company wants to fully assess the costs and functionality of the indicators of the new Finnish FSC standard approved by the Finnish FSC association on 8 October, 2010. The testing covers the financial, ecological and social impacts of the indicators. FSC forest certification will be in the future also one of the forest service products offered by UPM to private forest owners.

Even if FSC is commonly in use in many countries, where forestry has an important role, in Finland there has been no such national standard which would have been widely used by forest owners. Forest industry, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in Finland have been long in dialogue to find common understanding regarding the national FSC standard. These discussions have been focussed on consolidating financially viable forestry, the environmental aspects and the rights of Sámi people. UPM has participated in these discussions actively as one of the forest industry representatives. All key environmental organisations have participated in this process.

The new national FSC standard to be applied in Finland will become effective only after it has been approved by the Board of Directors of international FSC, probably from the beginning of year 2011.

The results of UPM's own testing are expected to be ready by the end of this year. Based on the results UPM will decide whether it will apply for FSC certification in its own forests in Finland.

UPM has for years offered different nature services to forest owners, who want to emphasise the different values of their forest i.e. promote game stock landscape or nature values. FSC forest certification will be in the future also one of the forest service products offered by UPM to private forest owners.

UPM regards forest certification as an excellent tool to promote sustainable forestry in these circumstances that only 10% of world's forests are certified. UPM seeks to promote all credible forest certification schemes including international PEFC and FSC. All UPM forests are certified. In Finland this comes under PEFC certification and in the UK PEFC and FSC certification (UK Woodland Assurance Standard). In Uruguay UPM plantations are FSC certified. In the UK UPM has experience as the leader of the biggest FSC and PEFC certification group.

For more information please contact:
Mr Timo Lehesvirta, Environmental Director, Energy and Pulp Business Group, telephone +358 400 752 212

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FSC is pleased to announce the launch of the FSC Global Partner Program through an exclusive partnership agreement with AkzoNobel. The official start of the partnership was celebrated at the FSC Global Partner Awards ceremony which honored companies from around the world for their commitment to FSC certification and promotion of responsible forest management worldwide.

The partnership between FSC and AkzoNobel will highlight the vital significance of forests and raise awareness of FSC’s mission to promote responsible forest management worldwide. As a global leader in sustainability and the largest global paints and coatings company, AkzoNobel will support FSC’s outreach efforts by educating customers and helping to drive demand for FSC certified products. AkzoNobel has also committed to support the development of local FSC National Initiatives and to set up a global partnership fund to support social policy projects.

Market demand for FSC certified products drives uptake of FSC certification at the forest management level, and contributes to improved environmental and social conditions. In this way, FSC certification is a tool through which businesses and consumers can help protect the world’s forests. The FSC Global Partner Program is designed to support the effective mechanism of FSC certification by increasing awareness and action towards responsible procurement decisions.

“As a global leader in sustainability, AkzoNobel is an ideal partner to promote awareness of FSC worldwide. Both FSC and AkzoNobel are invested in the care of natural resources, and the partnership draws on the synergy between sourcing from well-managed forests and maintaining long-term objectives for the life cycle of forest products. By working together through the FSC Global Partner Program, we will not only raise awareness of FSC certification but also bring attention to innovations that address environmental, social and economic issues in forest management,” FSC Director General Andre de Freitas.

The FSC Global Partner Program is closely aligned with FSC’s Global Strategy objectives to provide leadership in advancing globally responsible forest management, ensure equitable access to the benefits of the FSC system, to develop the market for FSC certified products and to strengthen its global network. 

Source: Press release Global Partner Program (pdf) >>

Global Partner Program FAQs (pdf) >>

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