American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman and American Wood Council (AWC) President and CEO Robert Glowinski have issued the following statements after filing a joint petition for review in the D.C. Circuit Court of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) treatment of biomass energy in the final Clean Power Plan.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International is convening a mediation process to bring together stakeholders in a spirit of collaboration, to address issues raised recently in Canada, particularly in Quebec and in Ontario, about FSC certification. Over the last two years, significant areas of FSC certified forests were suspended in Canada mainly because of lack of consent from First Nations, and also because of inadequate forest management plans for species at risk, namely woodlands caribou in the Canadian boreal forest. Most of these suspended or terminated FSC certificates are held by Resolute Forest Products (Resolute FP).

The U.S. wind power industry is celebrating after reaching a new milestone in November: 70 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity. "That's enough to power about 19 million homes," says Michael Goggin, senior director of research at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). There are more than 50,000 wind turbines operating across 40 states and Puerto Rico, according to the AWEA.

Developed and produced at the Lappeenranta mill site, UPM’s renewable diesel is a good example of the transformation of the forest industry. Finnish innovation helps the industry expand into new fields. Jaakko Nousiainen tells the story of BioVerno, UPM’s renewable diesel. The story began nearly a decade ago when the management of UPM was looking into expanding the company’s operations from traditional wood and paper industries into new fields. One of the ideas discussed was biofuels. Soon enough, UPM started research on converting wood mass to biofuel by gasification. Another approach to biofuel production was to utilise the side streams from pulp and paper production, but initially this option did not get as much attention.

On 11 November 2015 in Helsinki, Finland, the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Board of Directors approved the Requirements for Sourcing FSC Controlled Wood (FSC-STD-40-005 V3-0). The standard has now been published on the FSC International website, and it is planned that it will enter into force on 1 July 2016. The approved standard – which can be downloaded here – outlines the requirements for organizations with an FSC chain of custody certificate to implement a due diligence system to avoid material from unacceptable sources which cannot be used in FSC Mix products. Unacceptable sources are the five categories of controlled wood, which are defined in the standard.

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) (Crown) (www.crowncork.com), a leading supplier of metal packaging products worldwide, has published its third Sustainability Report. Titled ‘Perpetual Progress,’ the 2015 report documents Crown’s continued advancement in the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. It also underlines Crown’s broad efforts in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 to improve its sustainability footprint, resource use and emissions per standard unit, even as the Company has seen global volume growth and expanded its geographic reach.

The Innovation Centre for biomaterials will host research, application, business development and strategic marketing under one roof. By creating renewable solutions and products from second-generation biomass, such as wood, in order to replace fossil-based products, the centre is addressing societal problems such as climate change, increased urbanisation as well as water and land use issues. “The Innovation Centre in Stockholm is another important step on the road to Stora Enso’s transformation into a renewable materials company. It will help us build on our long, worldwide tradition in forestry, which – when coupled with access to sustainable raw materials and our expertise in fibres – gives us an excellent starting point for creating solutions that will benefit our customers and end-users in various industries and markets,” says Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO at Stora Enso.

Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, has achieved leadership status in the materials sector of the CDP’s 2015 Forest programme. One hundred and eighty companies globally responded to CDP’s forests information request, out of which nine were awarded a leadership status. This follows swiftly on the news that Metsä Board has also been recognised for its management in water security and climate change by the CDP. CDP launched its 2015 Global Forest Report at the Global Landscapes Forum in Paris, coinciding with UN’s Climate Change Conference, December 2015.

“Earlier this week, we saw an historic outcome from COP 21. Global government leaders and communities convened and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, place a larger focus on climate temperatures, and pledged $100 billion a year to help developing countries meet their goals. We applaud our global leaders and tip our hat to all in attendance. Thank you for the good work you have committed to accomplish. Although the agreements entered in Paris last week are goals, not requirements, it’s up to us and our fellow businesses to venture onward, continuing the good work set in Paris. We also added our names as a signatory in the Business Backs A Low Carbon USA statement.

Estonia and Poland have become the latest countries to successfully achieve PEFC re-endorsement of their national forest certification systems for the first time. This not only confirms that they continue to meet PEFC’s globally recognized Sustainability Benchmarks, but also ensures that certified forest owners and companies in these countries continue to benefit from the global acceptance of PEFC. "The re-endorsement of these national forest certification systems shows both the commitment of our members to PEFC and underlines PEFC's leadership in the continuous improvement of forest certification," said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International. “We appreciate their continued commitment, as well as the contributions of all the stakeholders who have participated in the standards revision and assessment processes.”

A three-year corporate responsibility initiative on water stewardship run by Stora Enso and the global chemicals company Kemira in Guangxi Province in Southern China has now been completed. Launched in 2013, the initiative was designed to find new responsible water management solutions through stakeholder engagement, local community work, and capacity building. Pilot projects launched by Stora Enso and Kemira in the villages of Nahupo, Shengping, and Baimei in the spring of 2015 have addressed local concerns such as poor sewage treatment and water supply systems. During the six-month construction phase, a total of 12.7 kilometres of water and sewage piping were laid, with water storage tanks and artificial wetlands also built. The projects have given almost 2 600 villagers better access to clean water.

Nearly 200 countries, including Canada, have agreed to hold the increase in global temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. The agreement calls on countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, while recognizing the role of conservation and the sustainable management of forests. Canada has more than 9% of the world’s forests which absorb tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide to the benefit of our entire planet. Unlike many other forest nations, all harvested trees are regrown largely ensuring the maintenance of our carbon stocks. More to the point, Canada has virtually zero deforestation, just 0.02% per year.

With an increase of more than 5.5 million hectares of PEFC-certified forest area over the past year, China has been recognized for the greatest increase in forest certification by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) during PEFC Forest Certification Week last week. PEFC Spain received the award for the highest increase in number of PEFC Chain of Custody certified companies.

CarbonCO officially relaunched the initiative yesterday (10 December) in partnership with international conservation charity World Land Trust (WLT). Carbon Balanced Paper balances the carbon impact of the paper that printers, paper-makers and distributors use through the work undertaken by WLT. As part of its activities, WLT has identified areas of forest that, through protection and reforestation projects, can offer opportunities for specific carbon balancing programmes. Carbon is offset through the purchase and preservation of ecologically important forestry under imminent threat of clearance, which then locks carbon that would otherwise be released.

“Ensuring that forest certification is realistic and affordable for smallholders is an essential part of this equation and PEFC is dedicated to supporting the expansion of group certification globally.” To share experience between countries and learn from Spain’s vast experience in delivering group certification for smallholders, an international group of forest experts gathered together in Madrid, Spain in early December. Spain is one of the world leaders in enabling small forest owners to gain certification through the group certification model, with group and regional certification accounting for 84% of forest certification in the country.

Monadnock has achieved re-certification for compliance with ISO14001:2004, the leading international standard for environmental management systems (EMS). SGS Group, a leader in third-party registration, recently completed a comprehensive independent audit of Monadnock’s Bennington, New Hampshire facility. Monadnock successfully met the ISO14001 EMS requirements and demonstrated the processes to maintain that system and its commitment to continuous improvement. Further, Monadnock recently achieved re-certification for compliance with Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody standards. Rainforest Alliance completed their third-party independent audit and found that Monadnock satisfied the requirements for tracking and documenting FSC fiber from suppliers, through its production facility and delivery to its customers.

The steam generation through energy recovery project carried out by the Cascades energy efficiency team at the Cascades Tissue Group – Mechanicville plant won two major energy awards this year: it was one of the top three projects of the year as voted by ENERGY STAR members and also the Energy Manager Today Project of the Year Award initiated by the Environmental Leader group. These two awards are a source of pride for the company, since this is the first project of its kind in the North American industry.

Each year during the holiday season people begin decorating and buying gifts. For those that celebrate Christmas, an important decision is choosing a tree. This includes deciding if it will be a real or artificial Christmas tree. How does your decision impact the environment? Cost, convenience, and personal preference are all important considerations, but so too is the environmental impact. Research has shown that locally-sourced natural trees have less environmental impact than artificial ones. An independent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) study released by the Montreal firm Elliposos determined that real trees have less overall impact in terms of distribution, disposal, and average carbon emissions than their artificial counterparts. The LCA method allows for evaluation of potential environmental impacts of a product (or service) over its entire life cycle and takes raw material processing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, use, reuse, recycling and disposal impacts into consideration.

The team at our Cedar Springs, Georgia, mill believes not only in being a good neighbor, but also a responsible environmental steward. In fact, the Wildlife Habitat Council recently certified the mill as a Wildlife at Work property, a distinction designed to recognize outstanding habitat management on industrial lands. Wildlife at Work certifications aren’t easy to come by, but for Cedar Springs, the recognition is well-deserved. The employees working at the nearly 5,000-acre site go out of their way to minimize disruptions to wildlife living in the area. For example, the team has carefully relocated a dozen gopher tortoises over the years to ensure the animals are not harmed when a mill expansion or construction project occurs. Other species the team is working to increase include bluebirds, purple martins, bats, and insect pollinators, and it protects endangered mussels living in the Sawhatchee Creek, which runs through the property. The team is also planning to replant longleaf pine trees on 300 acres of the site, a move which will benefit a multitude of indigenous creatures, including the gopher tortoise.

eiko Epson has developed what it believes to be the world’s first*1 compact office papermaking system capable of producing new paper from securely shredded waste paper*2 without the use of water*3. Epson plans to put the new “PaperLab” into commercial production in Japan in 2016, with sales in other regions to be decided at a later date. Businesses and government offices that install a PaperLab in a backyard area will be able to produce paper of various sizes, thicknesses and types, from office paper and business card paper to paper that is colored and scented. A developmental prototype of the PaperLab will be demonstrated at the Epson booth at Eco-Products 2015, an environmental exhibition that will take place at the Tokyo Big Sight from Dec. 10-12.

This increased commitment to Riau Ecosystem Restoration (RER) is believed to be the biggest investment by a private sector company in a single eco-restoration project in Indonesia, covering assessment, restoration and protection, and management and partnerships. "This commitment illustrates how private sector organizations can support climate goals not just in terms of pledges but by going beyond them and actually putting resources on the table," said Tony Wenas, Managing Director, APRIL Group Indonesia Operations.

“We need a global agreement at COP 21 with clear actions and firm commitments, outlining effective pathways to address climate change,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International ahead of the upcoming PEFC Forest Certification Week. “These commitments must recognize the multiple benefits of forests and encourage policies that promote sustainable forest management and the use of certified forest products. This will enable PEFC as the world's leading forest certification system to further enhance its contribution to tackling climate change, safeguarding forest ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods."