A sustainable celebration with PEFC – European cities choose certified Christmas trees

Today at the meeting of the Environmental Commission at the Bratsk City Duma, Vasily Konovalov, Director Occupational Health, Industrial, Environmental and Fire Safety, Bratsk Branch of OJSC Ilim Group, reported the status of the environmental program implemented by the Company to reduce its environmental footprint. The program was presented by Company management to Bratsk Mayor Sergey Serebrennikov and Bratsk City Duma deputies in January 2015, and approved by the regional authorities.

Amazon and Global Optimism announced that more than 300 companies have now signed The Climate Pledge, a nearly 600% growth in signatories over the past year. Among the nearly 100 new signatories joining today are the world’s largest container shipping company, Maersk; the leading enterprise software developer SAP; the North American timberland company Weyerhaeuser; the largest residential solar company in the U.S., Sunrun; and the leading brand in connected car and audio services, HARMAN. Pledge signatories in total generate over $3.5 trillion in global annual revenues and have more than 8 million employees across 51 industries in 29 countries. Signatories to The Climate Pledge must agree to: *Measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis. *Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies. *Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.

Stakeholders from around the world are invited to give feedback on the revised Brazilian Forest Certification System. Deadline for comments is 15 September. Give your feedback. PEFC Brazil revised the country’s national forest certification system following the entry into force of the revised 2018 PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standard. The Brazilian system was submitted to PEFC after being revised in line with PEFC requirements. The national system is now undergoing the PEFC assessment process, carried out by an independent PEFC Registered Assessor. It must pass this assessment to maintain its PEFC endorsement. An important aspect of the assessment process is the public consultation. Over the sixty-day consultation, stakeholders from around the world can give their comments and provide feedback on any aspect of the system. The Registered Assessor will use the information received from this consultation in their assessment of the system.