Timber is key to unlocking a green and sustainable future

Assessors play an important role in PEFC. With PEFC being the only global forest certification system that requires all standards to be independently developed with multi-stakeholder participation, any national forest certification systems that seeks PEFC endorsement is subject to the rigorous PEFC assessment process to ensure their system meets PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmarks. This process, which also includes a sixty day global public consultation as well as a review by the PEFC Panel of Experts, is led by independent, PEFC Registered Assessors. The assessors took a detailed look at the PEFC Sustainability Benchmark requirements, identifying expectations and clarifications for specific requirements in order to reach a better common understanding and a more harmonized and consistent application of the PEFC requirements.

"This is a major step forward in our environmental efforts to reduce CO?emissions and make us less dependent on fossil fuels," says Johan Jonsson, Head of Södra Skogsplantor. The process to changeover Södra's nursery in Flåboda to fossil-free operation commenced three years ago. The goal has now been achieved, with boilers fuelled with vegetable oils, greenhouses heated by four pellet boilers, green electricity generated by Södra's pulp mills and vehicles that run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

UPM has signed a long-term Wind Power Purchase agreement with German wind park development company wpd. The use of renewable wind power for UPM’s paper mills will help reduce CO2 emissions by 200,000 tonnes annually as of 2022, representing 5% of UPM’s total CO2 emissions. For UPM, this is an important step towards achieving the company’s ambitious 65% CO2 emission reduction target by 2030. UPM Communication Papers, the world-leading manufacturer of graphic papers, has committed to purchasing the majority share of the annual electricity production of a wind project build by wpd, totaling approximately 4 TWh over the duration of the contract. The wind project will be built in Finland and is planned to run for 25-30 years. The contract will support the long-term competitiveness of UPM Communication Papers by providing renewable electricity at competitive prices.