Operating across two time zones and two Canadian provinces, with a combined area the size of continental Europe, hasn't stopped the Central Canada Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Implementation Committee from setting a new standard for community building, partnerships and member participation. In recognition of this outsized effort, the committee received the SFI Implementation Committee Award at the SFI 2016 Annual Conference. "The committee has established an extraordinary range of partnerships and signed 15 memorandums of understanding (MOUs). The central Canada committee is the first Canadian committee to win this award. The fact that they managed to stand out in such a competitive competition, among 34 SFI Implementation Committees, speaks volumes about the good work they are doing to promote SFI and spread responsible forestry," said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI Inc. The committee's partners come from government, NGOs, universities, Indigenous groups and industry. "I was deeply impressed by the level of commitment, participation and attendance at their meetings," said Mike Sullivan who sat on the award evaluation committee. Sullivan is a member of the SFI External Review Panel and a Director at the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources. "The committee's enthusiasm for spreading responsible forestry is contagious and their hard hat sticker campaign is engaging frontline harvesting professionals." click Read More below for the rest of the story

The brownish water and dead seabeds are gone. This year Iggesund Paperboard, manufacturer of the paperboards Invercote and Incada, can look back on a century’s unique performance record on sustainability. Iggesund Mill opened its first pulp mill in 1916, which was expanded to become an integrated pulp and paperboard mill in 1963. I’m proud to have the privilege of working for a company whose environmental efforts are characterised by both a long-term approach and a sense of responsibility,” comments Anna Mårtensson, Environmental Managerat Iggesund Paperboard’s Swedish production facility, Iggesund Mill. “Today our environmental impact is almost non-existent compared with the situation just over 50 years ago.” When Iggesund built its first pulp mill in 1916, environmental legislation did not exist and companies were basically free to release fibre waste and chemicals into the air and water. During the mill’s first 50 years this caused a significant negative effect on the local environment. The first emissions limits were set in 1963, symbolically the same year that biologist Rachel Carson’s famous book about the influence of pesticides on nature, Silent Spring, was published and became the alarm clock that laid the foundation of today’s environmental movement. Click Read More below for additional detail.

2015 Highlights include: Less road building (40% reduction); Operate on less of the landbase – less fragmentation of the forest; No increase in the percentage of clear cutting; Zero 3rd party certification non-conformances in independent annual (2015) audits of 145 forest sustainability indicators (FSC, SFI & ISO 14001); 3,400,000 trees planted; Worked with 30 commercial outfitters offering outdoor experiences in our woodlands; 228 voluntary conservation sites. Click Read More for additional detail.

Millar Western’s 2017-27 Detailed Forest Management Plan (DFMP) for its Forest Management Agreement (FMA) area is nearing its final phase. In development for more than two years, the plan will guide forest management operations in the FMA area for the next 10 years. To ensure that the DFMP reflects local interests and priorities, Millar Western has sought public input at various junctures during its development. Starting October 4, it will begin its next and final consultation, beginning with a presentation of the draft Preferred Forest Management Scenario (PFMS) to Millar Western’s Public Advisory Committee. The next day, Millar Western will hold an open house at the Allan and Jean Millar Centre in Whitecourt, Alberta, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, to present the draft PFMS to all interested parties. “The PFMS is the result of an intensive back-and-forth process, whereby we use computer models to achieve the best balance among environmental, social and economic objectives on the land base,” said Chief Forester Bob Mason. “Whereas earlier consultations were focused on determining forest values — the features stakeholders deem important and wish to preserve on the landscape — the PFMS has accounted for those values and proposes harvesting volumes, locations and timeframes for the plan period.”

Two Sides North America, Inc. confirmed that over 65 leading North American companies have removed inaccurate anti-paper claims as a result of the group’s efforts. The list includes several Fortune 100 companies in the financial, telecom and utilities sectors who have engaged in a dialogue with Two Sides and modified their marketing messages to consider the social and environmental benefits of print and paper, as well as the life cycle of sustainable forests and paper products. “The ‘go green and save trees’ claims are misleading and false for many reasons, and they are a form of greenwashing that needs to be corrected,” said Phil Riebel, President of Two Sides North America, Inc. “The claims don’t consider the renewability of paper, or the numerous social, environmental, and economic benefits of well-managed North American forests, which in the U.S. have grown by 58% in wood volume over the past 60 years.” click Read More below for the rest of the story

Twin Rivers Paper Company is pleased to announce the company has achieved PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™) Chain of Custody certification. The certification supports the Company’s commitment to sustainable fiber sourcing principles. “The addition of PEFC certification is important both domestically and for its international reach. The standard enables our customers to have confidence the products they use from Twin Rivers are produced using practices that are consistent with their global procurement and sustainability initiatives,” said Dave Deger, Vice President, Strategy & Marketing. This rigorous international third-party standard ensures the wood and fiber used to make the Company’s lightweight specialty paper and dimensional lumber products originate from sustainable, well-managed forests.

A book You don’t want to put down! In partnership with Dr. Theresa Dankovich from Carnegie Mellon, WATERisLIFE introduced The Drinkable Book™, the first-ever manual that provides safe water, sanitation and hygiene education and serves as a tool to kill deadly waterborne diseases by providing the reader with an opportunity to create clean, drinkable water from each page. We are working on a variety of languages, teaching methods and ways to share the message through training, storytelling and discussions in communities and schools worldwide where there is a desperate need. Each book can provide a user with clean water for up to four years. WATERisLIFE has introduced a campaign to move into full production of The Drinkable Book™, and with your help, we can distribute the books as part of WATERisLIFE’s integrated water, sanitation and hygiene program to save lives and transform communities, as well as make the books available for global partner distribution. Please DONATE to help provide funding for research and development of The Drinkable Book™ to get it into the hands of those in desperate need of clean water.

Xerox has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for the first time and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for the third consecutive year. In the categories of corporate code of conduct, corporate governance and environmental management and reporting, Xerox exceeded the average score of DJSI World Members. Xerox was one of nine companies in the IT and software services sector to make the DJSI industry list and scored higher than most of the other industry members on all DJSI dimensions (economic, environmental and social). "To be recognized as a leader in sustainability is validation of our long-standing commitment to corporate social responsibility that is core to our business, operations, products and solutions throughout the world,” said Flor Colon, Xerox Corporate Social Responsibility council chair.

"We are proud that our commitment to advancing sustainable forest management, specifically the progress we have been making in Asia, is being recognized by the prestigious TTJ Award," said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, following the announcement that PEFC was shortlisted in the Environmental Achievement category. "This sends an important signal to the many organizations and people involved in our various projects in Asia that their work is highly relevant and appreciated."

FSC is calling on certificate holders and trademark service licence holders to participate in its 2016 Global Market Survey. We would like to thank those who have already completed the survey – your feedback is really appreciated. This year, we are extending the invitation to take part in the survey also to FSC trademark service licensees. The survey results will help us plan our strategic work and fine-tune our service delivery. The Global Market Survey is one of the main tools we use to understand market needs and receive feedback on our tools and services. Respondents have an opportunity to participate in a prize draw to win free advertisement space on FSC Marketplace. The winners will be announced on the FSC International website.

Technology advancements are expected to continue to drive down the cost of wind energy, according to a survey of the world's foremost wind power experts led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Experts anticipate cost reductions of 24%-30% by 2030 and 35%-41% by 2050, under a median or 'best guess' scenario, driven by bigger and more efficient turbines, lower capital and operating costs, and other advancements.

Water quantity and quality concerns have been steadily rising in the last several years. Arguably, the crisis in Flint, Michigan has caused the country to focus on water issues more than it ever has before. While that focus, appropriately, is on drinking water infrastructure, water use and quality issues are and will continue to be of concern in many regions and communities. In those areas, AF&PA members are taking the steps necessary to be part of the solution. Through our Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 initiative our members have committed to reduce water use in their pulp and paper mills by 12 percent from 2005 to 2020. In 2014, they are more then half way there, having reduced water use by 6.5 percent. They are making progress toward achieving this goal by taking simple, routine steps, such as upgrading to more efficient technologies, as well as more innovative projects. click Read More below for additional information

UPM has been listed as the forest and paper industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index (DJSI) for 2016-2017. "We believe that customers, investors and other stakeholders value our responsible operations that keep risks under control and create business opportunities. Innovations such as lighter publication paper grades, renewable diesel or biochemicals e.g. for medical end-uses create benefits to our stakeholders and the society, and thereby increase the company value. Being listed as the top company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in Europe shows that we have been succeeding in our actions and engagement and that the results are also noted outside", says Pirkko Harrela, Executive Vice President, Stakeholder Relations.

BillerudKorsnäs has been included in one of the world’s most prestigious sustainability indices; Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index. In addition, the company was named Sustainability Leader in the Containers & Packaging category. BillerudKorsnäs is the only European company in its category to be included. BillerudKorsnäs scored particularly high in the field of environment, eg. climate strategy, environmental management system and environmental reporting. Ethical guidelines and supplier management were also given high scores, among others.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Inc. announced today that the SFI 2015-2019 Forest Management Standard has again met the rigorous third-party assessment of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). This is SFI’s fourth PEFC assessment. The SFI Program was first endorsed in 2005. PEFC is an umbrella organization that endorses national forest certification systems developed collaboratively by diverse stakeholders, tailored to local priorities and conditions. “SFI makes important contributions that address the unique needs of North America’s forests and communities, and is a valuable national member working with PEFC to elevate the role of responsible forestry,” said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC. “Only forest certification standards that meet our rigorous meta-standard and that are developed in an open, transparent manner through a multi-stakeholder process are endorsed by PEFC.” PEFC’s sustainable forest management criteria are founded on internationally recognized criteria and indicators developed by government agencies around the world. The SFI Program was re-endorsed by PEFC after a 60-day public comment period, a detailed examination and third-party assessment against nearly 200 criteria by a PEFC-approved assessor and a review by the PEFC Panel of Experts.

With over 18,000 PEFC Chain of Custody certified companies worldwide, our Chain of Custody standard has a tremendous impact on internal management processes of numerous businesses along the timber value chain. This means we must ensure the standard is the best it can be: that it is easy to use and meets customer expectations, while also respecting the integrity of our requirements and our system. As a result, our Chain of Custody standard is one of the areas under review as we continue our standards revision process. The responsibility for this revision falls to Working Group 4, which got together for their latest meeting in July. click Read More below for additional information

The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS (NYSE: UPS), announced it will award more than $2.6 million in grants to nonprofit organizations focused on environmental sustainability initiatives. This includes a significant grant to twenty-five year partner, The Nature Conservancy, a global organization that works to preserve ecologically important land and water resources through conservation. Other grants will support programs that advance environmental research and education, carbon reduction and energy conservation – all vital to economic growth and community stability. The Nature Conservancy grant includes a partnership extension for UPS’s Global Forestry Initiative, a program designed to plant, protect and preserve trees in urban and rural areas and forests worldwide. The grant will enable The Nature Conservancy to continue reforestation efforts for at-risk or eroded ecosystems throughout the U.S., Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico and Tanzania. click Read More below for additional information