Ahlstrom joins the World Business Council for Sustainable Development

The revised advice note becomes effective on 1 January 2023 and reflects the interim measure for Intact Forest Landscapes requested by Motion 23 at the FSC General Assembly. At the 9th FSC General Assembly in Bali in 2022, the FSC membership passed Motion 23:2020 and associated Implementation Note which requires the use of landscape-wide approaches adapted to local conditions and strengthened Standard Development Groups (SDGs) to improve protection of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs). The Secretariat took immediate action and announces the publication of a revised Advice Note for IFLs to implement the interim measures required by the passed Motion 23 (including the interpretation note). Motion 65:2014, approved by the FSC membership at the 7th General Assembly in Seville in 2014, called for the protection of the vast majorities of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) within the FSC certified Management Units. This has been implemented through IFL-specific International Generic Indicators (IGI) in FSC-STD-60-004 V2-0, and through the Advice Note ADV-20-007-018 for areas where there are no approved Forest Stewardship Standards based on V2-0 of the IGI.

UPM has published a new biodiversity commitment, which is one of the company's responsibility targets for 2030. The new commitment and programme will be presented today at the Conference of the Parties (COP14) of the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The aim of the commitment is to continuously improve the diversity of UPM's own forests in Finland. The company owns 570,000 hectares of forest, and managing these forests sustainably is essential to ensure the supply of wood. UPM's own forests are strategically significant for wood supply, forest research, development of industry's best practices and training of employees. Improving biodiversity is part of the company's sustainable forest management. This protects water resources, promotes multiple use of forests and ensures the growth of forests that act as carbon sinks to mitigate climate change. Click read more below for additional detail.

Imagine mornings without orange juice, summer picnics without strawberries or holiday dinners without apple pie. Such a future is possible if we don’t take collective action to begin restoring pollinator habitats around the world. It’s estimated that one out of every three bites of food we eat is possible because of animal pollinators. Bees are the most popular pollinators, but there’s an entire segment of the animal kingdom that helps pollinate the food we eat, including some that grow in our own home gardens. Pollinators include butterflies and moths, birds, bats, beetles and many more, and without them some of our favorite foods wouldn’t exist. Yet studies show these vital pollinator populations have been declining over the last 30 years due to loss of habitat, pests, pollution, pesticides and a changing climate, among other contributing factors.