A New Era For Europe’s Forests Begins

Amazon announced the early completion of its commitment to host 50 solar systems on its fulfillment and sortation center rooftops globally by 2020. Additionally, Amazon was ranked #1 in the U.S. for the amount of corporate on-site solar installed in 2018 by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The on-site solar systems reduce Amazon’s reliance on fossil fuels, and can generate as much as 80 percent of a single fulfillment facility’s annual energy needs. Amazon’s on-site solar investments support Shipment Zero – Amazon’s vision to make all Amazon shipments net zero carbon, with 50% of all shipments net zero by 2030 – as well as its companywide goal to use 100% renewable energy across its global operations and infrastructure.

American Wood Council President and CEO Robert Glowinski and American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) issuance of a new rule to reclassify certain major sources as area sources under the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the proposed rule on “Once In, Always In” on June 25, 2019. Robert Glowinski, President and CEO of AWC: “The old ‘Once In, Always In’ policy arbitrarily put a manufacturing facility into a regulatory time warp from which it could never escape. In contrast, EPA’s proposed rule would allow mills that are able to reduce their emissions below Clean Air Act thresholds to be free of onerous additional reporting, monitoring and recordkeeping requirements as long as they operate to stay below the cutoffs. Click Read More below for additional information.

Stora Enso has, as a forest industry forerunner, developed a science-based framework to verify net positive impact on biodiversity. Through combining science, technology and data, the framework enables forecasting of biodiversity impact, which allows operations to be adapted towards a net positive goal. The partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will provide external expert insights for further development and validation of the framework. Stora Enso’s sustainability strategy focuses on climate change, biodiversity, and circularity, and the Company’s biodiversity goal is to have a net positive impact within its own forests and plantations through active management. IUCN is the leading non-profit nature conservation organisation globally, supporting companies with nature-positive tools and practices to reverse biodiversity loss. Stora Enso’s partnership with IUCN focuses on developing a framework to measure and disclose net positive biodiversity impact.