Paper, Wood Products Manufacturers Disagree with Sens. Markey and Warren Attack on Biomass

Metsä Board has once again been highlighted as a global leader in corporate sustainability by CDP, a non-profit global environmental disclosure platform, by achieving a place on the CDP A List for both climate change and water security. This is the fourth consecutive year that the company has been included on the CDP Water A List and the third consecutive year on the CDP Climate A List. Metsä Board also scored A- in the CDP’s Forest programme. Metsä Board is among the top 27 companies placed on the global Water A List. This achievement is in recognition of Metsä Board’s actions in the last reporting year to manage water more sustainably. Additionally, Metsä Board is among the top 126 of companies featured on the global Climate A List. This positioning is a recognition for the company’s activities in cutting emissions, mitigating climate risks and developing the low-carbon economy. In 2018, over 7,000 companies disclosed through CDP. Click read more below for additional detail.

Two Sides has challenged over 2,650 organisations found to be communicating greenwashing messages to their customers. Over 1,180 organisations have, so far, removed misleading anti-paper statements. Economic pressures remain the driver for much of Greenwashing, and many organisations that have relied on paper to communicate with their customers are increasingly transitioning their customers from traditional paper-based services to digital platforms in a bid to reduce costs. The switch to digital is often justified by misleading and unsubstantiated environmental marketing messages such as; “Go Green – Go Paperless” or “Choose e-billing and help save a tree,” – but this is just Greenwashing.

J.D. Irving Limited’s (JDI) partnership with Natural Resources Canada's Canadian Forest Service has led to the commercial development of advanced tree breeding, field testing and seedling production techniques. Maritime Innovation, JDI's new lab in Sussex, New Brunswick was designed to use advanced seedling production technologies based on selection from our native tree population for a range of high value traits such as fast growth rate, high wood quality, resistance to insects and disease and broad adaptation to climate change. A propagation method called Somatic Embryogenesis is used to produce large numbers of seedling from a broad range of genetically diverse trees which have been field tested across the region. Another aspect of the lab’s research involves fungi which live inside the needles and leaves of trees across our region which are called endophytes. A range of these fungi have been selected because they produce compounds which improve their host tree’s tolerance to insect and disease attack. Methods have been developed to inoculate small seedlings in the nursery with these special fungi which stay with the tree throughout its life. Investing in this technology will sustain diverse forests, contribute to a sustainable wood supply for the forest industry and improve tree tolerance to various insect and fungal pests leading to a reduction in pesticide usage.