Public consultation: Thai forest certification system

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock issued the following statement in opposition to the Maryland General Assembly's efforts to alter the state's definition of qualifying biomass in the renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS): "The forest products industry in Maryland produces almost $1.8 billion in products annually, employing approximately 6,000 people who work in facilities that produce essential products. The bioenergy from forest products manufacturing residuals is a carbon neutral, renewable energy that provides enormous greenhouse gas emission reduction benefits - roughly the equivalent to removing 35 million cars from the road.

Atlantic Packaging is named in CDP’s A List 2023 for its environmental transparency and performance on climate change. CDP is a global nonprofit that helps companies, cities, states, regions, and public authorities disclose their environmental impact. The organization annually grades entities based on their commitments to sustainability. Based on data reported through CDP’s 2023 Climate Change questionnaire, Atlantic is one of 346 companies that achieved an ‘A’ out of over 21,000 companies scored. CDP scores are used to inform investment and procurement decisions that encourage a move toward a zero-carbon, sustainable, and resilient economy. In 2023, over 740 financial institutions with over $136 trillion in assets requested companies to disclose data on environmental impacts, risks, and opportunities through CDP’s platform. A record-breaking 23,000 companies responded.

We are pleased to announce that the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the American Forest Foundation (AFF) have formed a new partnership to grow the amount of certified family and other small holdings in North America. Through this partnership, SFI and AFF are working together on a Small Lands Group Certification Module (Module), an innovative way to grow certified family lands and small holdings by building on the foundation of SFI's Fiber Sourcing Standard, and drawing on the strengths of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) forest management standard. Under this Small Lands Module, companies certified to the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard will be able to form a new type of certification group to certify small lands within their wood and fiber supply area. Click read more below for additional detail.