Displaying items by tag: forest

Norske Skog's election- and remuneration committee recommends Ingelise Arntsen as a new member of the board of directors. Dag J. Opedal is recommended as new chair of the election- and remuneration committee, and Olav Veum is recommended as a new member of the election- and remuneration committee.  

- The proposals of the committee regarding the new board member and new members of the election- and remuneration committee are unanimous. Ingelise Arntsen has extensive experience from industry and the energy industry, both through operational management and a number of directorships, says chair of the committee, Tom Ruud.

Board of directors
The committee proposes the re-election of Eivind Reiten as chair of the board. The committee also proposes the re-election of the remaining directors Eilif Due, Finn Johnsson, Siri Beate Hatlen, Jon-Aksel Torgersen and Karen Kvalevåg. In line with last year, no deputy chair is proposed.  

Ingelise Arntsen (46) has extensive board and management experience from Norwegian and international activities in the industrial and energy sectors. She is currently CEO of Sway Turbine AS and a board member of Multi Consult AS, EAM Solar ASA and Grieg Seafood ASA. She has previous experience from companies including Kvaerner and Statkraft. She has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Copenhagen Business School.

In addition to the seven shareholder-elected board members, three board members will be elected by and among the employees of the company.

Election- and remuneration committee

Dag J. Opedal is proposed as new chair, replacing Tom Ruud. Olav Veum is proposed as a new member, replacing Ole H. Bakke. It is proposed that Helge Leiro Baastad and Kirsten Idebøen are re-elected as members of the election- and remuneration committee.

Dag J. Opedal is a graduated economist and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from INSEAD. He has previously held the position of CEO in Orkla ASA. He is Chairman of Vizrt Ltd. and Meltwater B.V. and a board member of Telenor ASA, Nammo AS and Norwegian Church Aid.

Olav Veum is a forest owner and has previously held positions including that of general manager in the Western Telemark Business Forum and business manager in Fyresdal municipality. He is currently chair of the Norwegian Forest Owners' Association, AT Skog SA and a board member of the Norwegian Agricultural Cooperative.

Overview
If the proposals of the election- and remuneration committee are adopted, the governing bodies in Norske Skog will have the following shareholder-elected composition following the annual general meeting:

Study Shows World Heritage Sites Benefit from Forest Stewardship Council Certification

A new study conducted by the Rainforest Alliance found that World Heritage Sites and other protected areas benefit when neighboring forests achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. According to study co-author Deanna Newsom, “The FSC certification process required forestry operations located close to World Heritage Sites to take many actions that help protect the habitat of threatened and endangered wildlife and ward off invasive species. Other actions -- such as hiring local people -- reduce incentive for illicit activities within park boundaries, such as illegal logging and wildlife poaching.”

FSC requirements for certified forests that were found to benefit World Heritage Sites include the identification and conservation of high conservation value forests and habitats for threatened and endangered species, the prevention of fires and the movement of invasive species, decent pay for workers, the availability of jobs for local communities, access to the harvesting of non-timber forest products, and access to forests for cultural practices and traditional rituals.

“The key to conserving any area -- whether it be a working forest or a World Heritage Site -- is to ensure that community members have a direct interest in protecting it,” noted Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance. “Through FSC certification, local communities learn about the importance of protecting their natural resources and are provided with the financial incentive to do so.” 

FSC certification requirements are widely considered the “gold standard” for sustainable forest management, and the Rainforest Alliance is the leading FSC certifier worldwide. The recent study conducted by Deanna Newsom and David Hughell evaluated nine FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certified forestry operations located within 12 miles of a World Heritage Site. These include: Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks and Waterton Glacier International Peace Park on the Canada/US border), Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras, the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra in Indonesia, Central Sikhote-Amin in Siberia and Tikal National Park in Guatemala.

Since the adoption of UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1972, the designation ‘World Heritage Site’ has been awarded to 911 properties of outstanding natural or cultural importance. According to the 2012 watch list recently published by the World Monument Fund, 67 World Heritage sites in 41 countries are currently threatened.

By targeting the areas around World Heritage Sites and other protected areas for FSC certification, the social and environmental benefits of certified forestry can extend beyond the forest’s boundaries and into nearby forests and communities, giving a measure of extra protection to some of the world’s most precious natural sites.

PEFC International is pleased to invite all stakeholders to comment on the enquire drafts of three of its core standards by 30 June 2010. With more than two-thirds of the world's certified forests managed in compliance with PEFC's Sustainability Benchmarks, PEFC is the world's largest forest certification system and the certification system of choice for small- and family forest owners.

"The sustainable management of the world's forest concerns all of us. Forests have a vast potential to contribute to tackling climate change, they are the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystem, and they directly or indirectly support the livelihoods of millions of people." said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International.

"With PEFC's Sustainability Benchmarks defining the management of more than 220 million hectares of forests globally, it is our collective responsibility as forest stakeholders to integrate best practice, new scientific knowledge, societal expectations, as well as practical experiences on the ground, into standards that are globally relevant and locally applicable."

Led by multi-stakeholder working groups comprising representatives from a broad range of sectors including forest owners, industry, customers, the scientific community, environmental groups and trade unions, PEFC has been revising its standards defining requirements for sustainable forest management and the development of certification standards at national level over the last two years.

The efforts by the working group have been complemented by a series of workshops in which specialists in topics including labour rights, free informed consent, biodiversity conservation, pesticides, and GMOs participated to contribute expert knowledge to the revisions process.

The global public consultation is complemented by two Stakeholder Dialogue in Geneva, Switzerland (26 May 2010) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (16-18 June 2010) to provide additional opportunities for all stakeholders to discuss and elaborate on the enquiry drafts.

In addition to the three standards published today, the PEFC requirements for sustainable forest management standards for tropical natural forests will become available for public consultation shortly.

"The opportunities that forest certification provides in improving and verifying sustainable forest management are enormous, though the barriers to a further expansion are increasing", Mr. Gunneberg explained. "With the vast majority of the world's certified forests located in the Global North, there is a real need to revisit forest certification requirements in detail and ensure their applicability in countries with less favorable structures, especially in the tropics, in Asia, South America and Africa – regions in which arguably the most vulnerable forests are located, and in which the potential of forest management to lift people out of poverty is greatest."

More Information

• Access PEFC's Online Consultation Tool
• PEFC ST 1001:200x – Standard setting (download document 120 kb or access consultation)
• PEFC ST 1002:200x – Group forest management certification (download document 101 kb or access consultation)
• PEFC ST 1003:200x Part 1 – Requirements for SFM in boreal and temperate forests and forest plantations (download document 187 kb or access consultation)

Over the past two years, forest stakeholders have collaborated to revise part of PEFC's Sustainability Benchmarks, with the enquiry draft becoming available for public consultation shortly.

As the new standards will impact the management of the majority of the world's certified forests, PEFC has organized a number of seminars and workshops during the revision process to gather stakeholder input, culminating in a Stakeholder Dialogue on 26 May 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland, to provide opportunities to gather additional feedback, input and suggestions from all interested parties.

Venue
Maison des Associations
Rue des Savoises 15
1205 Geneva - Switzerland

Date
Wednesday, 26 May
2010
9:00 – 17:000 hrs, followed by a cocktail.

Click here to register

Background
PEFC as the world's largest forest certification system and the system of choice for small and family forest owners has a special responsibility in the promotion of the sustainable management of forests globally and locally.

The opportunities that forest certification provides in improving and verifying sustainable forest management are enormous, though the barriers to a further expansion are increasing. With many of the forests in countries with well-designed and –enforced forest laws, long traditions of forest management, and good governance certified to one of the two global forest certification systems, there is a real need to revisit forest certification requirements in detail and ensure their applicability in countries with less favorable structures, especially in the tropics, in Asia, South America and Africa.

At the same time, forest certification must demonstrate continuous improvement in countries where it enjoys broad support to increase its effectiveness in contributing societal challenges such as climate change.

Ultimately, mainstreaming forest certification is required to safeguard forests as the world's most valuable terrestrial ecosystem, with global and local stakeholders joining forces to further develop certification systems such as PEFC to fully utilize the potential it offers.

Objective
PEFC, an international non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management, works throughout the entire forest supply chain to promote good practice in the forest and to ensure that timber and non-timber forest products are produced with respect for the highest ecological, social and ethical standards.

As a learning organization, PEFC understands that sustainable forest management is an evolving process, and the parameters defining it change over time based on the latest scientific knowledge and society's understanding of the concept.

Over the past two years, the organization has been revising its forest management standard, its requirements for developing national certification standards, and requirements for group certification, a tool that is of specific importance for family- and community forests owners. PEFC's benchmark applies globally, though it promotes local adaptation.

The specific objective of the Stakeholder Dialogue therefore is to discuss the relevance and appropriateness of the suggested revised internationally applicable criteria at global, regional and national levels.

Have your say: Discuss and provide feedback on the revised criteria from a global – and local – perspective. Share your knowledge and engage with stakeholders from the region on issues relevant to sustainable forest management.

Who Should Participate?
All stakeholders working to improve the forest management at global, regional and national levels. Participants will include representatives from:

* Non-governmental and community-based organizations
* Forest managers and owners
* Forest-based industries
* Governmental and intergovernmental entities
* Certification initiatives
* Members of the Standards Revision working group and  EFC Members

Content
The Stakeholder Dialogue will feature plenary sessions with presenters providing in-depth information about

* PEFC revision process
* Draft requirements for standard setting
* Draft requirements for group certification
* Draft requirements for sustainable forest management

and roundtables on topics centered around the following issues:

* Standard setting
* Group forest certification
* Sustainable forest management boreal, temperate forests and plantations
* Sustainable forest management – natural tropical forests

Ms. Ana R. Young Downey was elected in March 2010 to represent the Southern Economic Chamber. Ms. Downey has been a member of FSC since 2000 and the Executive Director of FSC Chile since 2008. She has extensive experience in forestry and received various environmental management awards by universities, NGOs, industry and government institutions.

Mr. Roberto Waack and Mr. Mario Abreu were re-elected to the FSC Board of Directors in November 2009. Mr. Waack is currently the FSC Chairman. A dedicated professional in the areas of technology management, strategic planning, corporate governance and sustainability, Mr. Waack is the partner and CEO of Brazilian forestry company AMATA S.A. and was the former President of Orsa Florestal. He represents the Southern Economic Chamber.

Mr. Mario Abreu has been a member of the Board since 2006 and is currently the Forestry and Supply Chain Environmental Support Director of Tetra Pak. Mario has extensive experience in the paper industry and has worked in Brazil, North America and Europe. Mr. Abreu serves as the Treasurer and represents the Northern Economic Chamber.

The FSC Board of Directors members are elected by and accountable to the FSC members. It is made up of nine individuals who are elected from each of the chambers for a three-year term. The FSC Board of Directors is also sub-chamber balanced between the Global North and South.

For more information about FSC governance, please visit www.fsc.org/governance.html To view a list of FSC members including new members elected in March and other membership documents, please go to www.fsc.org/membership_documents.html

CTS has got a membership of SRO for practicing design activities in Russia. Scope of this engineering license covers company´s earlier Russian engineering licenses.

The earlier license obtaining practice has been changed at the end of year 2009 to a system where companies apply for membership of so called self-regulated organizations (SRO) which have been established especially for this purpose. Federal environment and technology organization Rostechnadzor has given for particular, non commercial organizations a right to grant certificates for practicing design activity in Russia.

The certificates can be granted without time limitations for activity for both domestic and foreign companies.

CTS Engtec has a lot of experience in the design of demanding paper, board and pulp mill projects as well as in the design of energy systems for paper, pulp and the mechanical forest industries in Russia. The company has an excellant technical knowledge of renewable energy sources e.g CHP- plants (combined heat and power) and bioenergy plants.

The company can provide Russian clients conceptual study, pre-study and pre-engineering, basic and detail engineering, environmental technology services, project management and maintenance engineering.

CTS's flexible organization and working methods are particularly adapted for implementing rebuild projects as well as green field mill projects in Russia and around the world.

Bioenergy adds pace to paper industry and forest sector tradeshow

The forest sector’s interest in matters related to bioenergy will be effectively on display at next June’s PulPaper 2010 event in the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre. Some 80% of exhibition capacity has already been sold for the year’s most international tradeshow.

An international conference on the theme Implementing the new rise will be organised in conjunction with the tradeshow. The conference is divided into half-day sessions, which will focus on sub-themes such as the forest industry’s bioenergy issues, cost-effectiveness and resourcing, solutions in sustainable development and technological breakthroughs. A panel comprising President and CEO of the Metsäliitto Group Kari Jordan, Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT President & CEO Erkki Leppävuori, Professor Emeritus Johan Gullichsen and the philosopher Maija-Riitta Ollila, PhD, will discuss these matters during the opening of the event on Tuesday 1 June.

Bioenergy will be present at the exhibition in the form of a dedicated product group as well as in the programme of the conference. The keynote speech of the bioenergy session on Wednesday 2 June will be delivered by Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen on the theme National Energy and Climate Strategy – the role of forest and energy efficiency.

China and France participating with pavilions

“There is considerable worldwide interest in PulPaper 2010 and the Asians in particular will be participating strongly. Almost 300 exhibitors have already signed up,” says Project Manager Marcus Bergström, who is in charge of the event.

According to Bergström, the pavilions different countries are erecting in the exhibition area clearly represent a trend this year. “The Chinese are building a pavilion and the French are also assembling a joint section in which around ten companies will participate. The programme slots of the exhibition area’s Speakers corner venue are almost booked solid. About thirty international forest and paper industry publications are presenting their journals and magazines in the Media Partner Centre, where visitors can go to read up on what’s cooking in the sector,” Bergström continues.

PulPaper, now being arranged for the seventh time, is a tradeshow for the pulp, paper and paperboard industries and by far the most international event of this year. Almost half of the exhibitors and more than one-third of visitors have traditionally been foreigners. The PulPaper 2010 event is organised jointly by Adforum, the Paper Engineers’ Association, the Finnish Fair Corporation and Finland’s leading provider of technical training AEL. The previous PulPaper tradeshow was held in 2007 and it attracted over 16,102 visitors from 78 different countries to Helsinki.

PulPaper 2010
Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre 1-3 June 2010
Open: tue-wed 9 am – 5 pm, fri 9 ma – 4 pm

Further information on the pulp and paper industry:
Paper Engineers' Association
President Pirkko Molkentin-Matilainen, tel. +358 9 132 6696,
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Further information about the tradeshow:
Adforum AB, Project Manager Marcus Bergström, +358 9 150 9401
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Further information about the conference:
AEL, Training Manager Rainer Paloniemi, tel. +358 50 547 2724,
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Corporate Responsibility Magazine (formerly CRO Magazine) named Weyerhaeuser Company to its annual list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Weyerhaeuser was ranked No. 67 overall.

“Weyerhaeuser is committed to responsibly meeting the needs of its multiple stakeholders—including investors, customers, employees and the communities where we operate,” said Dan Fulton, Weyerhaeuser president and CEO. “This ranking affirms Weyerhaeuser’s leadership in sustainability, environmental stewardship, ethical business conduct, employee safety, community relations and more as we seek to fulfill our mission of improving lives and the planet we share by building homes and making products that come from one of the world’s most renewable resources: trees and forests.”

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens List is based on over 360 data points of publicly-available information in seven categories, including environment, climate change, human rights, philanthropy, employee relations, financial performance and governance. The 100 Best Corporate Citizens are selected from among the large-cap Russell 1000 companies, based on data provided by IW Financial, a Portland, Maine-based financial research firm that specializes in evaluating the environmental, social and governance performance of companies.

The 100 Best List was first published in 1999 in Business Ethics Magazine, and has been managed by CRO and Corporate Responsibility Magazine since 2007.

About Corporate Responsibility Magazine

20,000-subscriber Corporate Responsibility Magazine (www.thecro.com) is publisher of the 11th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List, among America’s three most-important business rankings according to PR Week.

About Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest forest products companies, was incorporated in 1900. In 2009, sales were $5.5 billion. It has offices or operations in 10 countries, with customers worldwide. Weyerhaeuser is principally engaged in the growing and harvesting of timber; the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products; and real estate construction and development. Additional information about Weyerhaeuser’s businesses, products and practices is available at www.weyerhaeuser.com

For more information, please contact:

* Media - Greg French, (253) 924-2806
* Analysts - Kathryn McAuley, (253) 924-2058

PEFC has called on the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to live up to its mission to truly 'transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated' by promoting the use of certified wood as one of the most environmentally-friendly building materials.

The USGBC has ended its 3^rd public comment period on the draft benchmarks to evaluate forest certification systems yesterday. The expressed intention of these benchmarks, according to USGBC, is to set high standards for forest certification systems and to incentivize 'their evolution towards more stringent requirements'.

"We have to bear in mind that after 20 years of activity, only eight percent of the world's forest are certified to the already strict requirements set out by the worlds two global forest certification systems, FSC and PEFC", said Ben Gunneberg, PEFC International Secretary General. "While wanting to raise the bar even higher is an admirable objective, it is rather unlikely that it will support efforts to increase the area of forests certified as sustainably managed."

PEFC is the world's largest forest certification system, and with about half a million certified forest owners the certification system of choice for small forest owners.

Mr Gunneberg added that the green buildings movement will lose its ability to promote changes if it settles at levels which are too demanding, elitist, and catering only for the boutique end of the market for wood. At the same time it is clear that the green buildings movement will lose its credibility if it is too undemanding, business-as-usual, and certifying the lowest common denominator.

He voiced his concern that if global certification systems have not been able to mainstream forest certification with the existing set of requirements, all that more stringent requirements will do is to continue to exclude forests from achieving certification for some time to come. "And if obtaining certification ceases to be a viable option for forest managers, there is a huge risk that they will re-focus their attention from implementing sustainable management methods to producing at low cost. And low-cost management methods are not necessarily sustainable."

Sustainable forest management is widely recognized as an essential component in tackling a number of societal issues, including climate change. Global forest leaders, gathered under the auspicious of The Forest Dialogue, an initiative hosted by Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, has identified the substitution of high-emissions materials and fuels with sustainably produced forest products as an important component of the most effective forest-based approaches dealing with climate change.

In the U.S., buildings are of fundamental importance in the climate change debate as they account for almost 40% of the total CO2 emissions. Studies estimate that CO2 emissions for wood-based buildings are 20-50% lower than emissions associated with comparable steel or concrete based buildings.

"Both global forest certification systems are based on widely accepted requirements, with PEFC basing its understanding of sustainable forest management on broad societal consensus expressed in international, intergovernmental, multi-stakeholder processes and guidelines involving thousands of interested parties," concluded Mr. Gunneberg.

"While we believe  that the USGBC is truly interested in 'enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment', its efforts must be targeted towards increasing market demand for certified wood instead of potentially excluding one – or both – global forest certification systems from  their credit system."

Further information

• Letter to Steve Baer ( 203 kb), Chair, USGBC Materials & Resources Technical Advisory Group (14 March 2010)
• Press release: USGBC LEED Standard: Friend or Foe in Global Movement to Fight Climate Change? (8 October 2009)
• Letter to Richard Fedrizzi ( 37 kb),  USGBC President and CEO (8 October 2009)

The forest industry is to donate €4 million to the starting endowment of the Aalto University in order to strengthen the forest-based sector’s innovation environment in Finland.

Forest industry companies are seeking out top international universities as cooperation partners in their effort to create new products and services. The Aalto University is counted among these top schools.

It is important that sufficient financial resources are made available for it to rise into the global elite with regards to its research and teaching activities. This will enable it to support the renewal of the forest industry as well.

The forest cluster’s research strategy has steered industry research and teaching activities towards key areas of growth. Forestcluster Ltd, Finland’s first Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation, and Finnish Wood Research Ltd, an agency that networks the wood products cluster’s joint research and development activities, provide resources for significant projects, which promote the renewal of the forest industry.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Keskuslaboratorio (KCL), an organisation specialising in forest industry research, were merged into an internationally unique concentration of competence last year. The Aalto University professorship, which was donated by the forest industry, will promote the teaching of wood construction specialists as well as strengthen the regeneration of the forest-based sector through education.

Further information:

Antro Säilä, Senior Vice President (Business and Innovation Environment),
tel. +358 9 132 6633, +358 40 589 1891