Clearing the Air — Not the Forest: The Real Deal on Deforestation

“Ensuring that forest certification is realistic and affordable for smallholders is an essential part of this equation and PEFC is dedicated to supporting the expansion of group certification globally.” To share experience between countries and learn from Spain’s vast experience in delivering group certification for smallholders, an international group of forest experts gathered together in Madrid, Spain in early December. Spain is one of the world leaders in enabling small forest owners to gain certification through the group certification model, with group and regional certification accounting for 84% of forest certification in the country.

The UK’s papermaking industry has smashed its energy-saving targets for the two-year period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016. All 45 of the UK’s paper mills take part in the voluntary Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme, launched in 2001, which gifts mills partial relief from the Climate Change Levy (CCL) tax in response for them delivering proven energy efficiency improvements. The paper sector was one of the first to agree to the CCA and by 2006 all mills had signed up. For the two-year period in question, the sector’s agreed target was to deliver a 7.1% improvement on 2008’s figure, and it actually improved by just shy of 10% (9.7%). Performance is defined in terms of a specific set of energy efficiency measurements mostly related to the use of electricity. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Pearson, the world’s learning company, today publishes its 2018 Sustainability Report, demonstrating ongoing progress in integrating social and environmental issues across the business and advancing equity in education. A key element of Pearson’s business strategy is to help improve employability prospects through providing products and services that drive better learning outcomes. As sustainability is increasingly integrated into Pearson’s core business, employability for underserved groups and supporting sustainability skills are becoming areas of focus. An example of this in practice in 2018 is our work with 225 US institutions, including community colleges, who used Pearson’s GED College Ready score level to help their students progress to the next level of their education, sometimes without placement tests or developmental courses. This is significant because it reduces barriers for students without a high school diploma to gain access to the next level of education, saves time by demonstrating mastery of certain topics, and improves their future employability prospects. To read Pearson’s full 2018 Sustainability Report and learn about its 2020 Sustainability Plan, visit http://www.pearson.com/sustainability.