Canadian forest certification system submitted for endorsement

Cotton, silk, leather... it is time to move on from these old-fashioned materials, to something better! This evening in Perugia, in the heart of Italy, young designers will be revealing their ideas of our clothing future, and their inspiration? Forests! Our forests have so much to offer us. Yarns from cypress, beech and eucalyptus trees, not to mention cork, are all softer and more breathable than cotton or silk. Fabrics similar to animal skins can instead come from our hardwoods and conifers. Click Read More below for more of the story.

“PEFC has been promoting nature-positive and people-positive sustainable forest management for the past 25 years, and the structures that we have put in place can be scaled up to bring even more forests under sustainable management,” said Thorsten Arndt, Head of Advocacy at PEFC International, at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 16) yesterday. Speaking at the side event “Sustainable Forest Management: Key to Biodiversity” he explained that not only about a quarter of the world’s production forests is certified under PEFC, but also one million smallholders have achieved PEFC certification. Smallholders manage a significant portion of the world’s production forests. Recent estimates suggest that smallholders are responsible for managing around 25% of all production forests globally. This highlights the crucial role they play in sustainable forest management and the broader forestry sector, and PEFC has successfully made certification accessible to them.

The Bio Era Tour, introducing bioeconomy and its possibilities and innovations, is launched today on the International Environment Day in Helsinki, Finland. In the core of the tour is the Bio Era Truck exhibition, where visitors can learn of the latest innovations made of renewable raw materials in an interactive manner and get to innovate also themselves. UPM is a partner in the tour as part of its Biofore Share and Care programme where one focus area is boosting bioinnovations. As the project partner UPM wants to highlight the industry's new innovations, versatile operations in the circular economy and meet young people around Finland. UPM's expertise in renewable and recyclable materials, low-emission energy and resource efficiency is the key to developing new, sustainable businesses. Click Read More below for additional detail.