FSC announces the Bonn Initiative at COP23
By Canadian Packaging staff
General Sustainability Bonn Initiative COP23 Forest Stewardship Council FSC Ikea SIG Combibloc UN Climate Change ConferenceSIG supports the development of scientifically rigorous methodologies to quantify the climate benefits of FSC certification.
December 2017–Demonstrating how the private sector can play a major role in mitigating climate change, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) announced at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn this past November, the support from IKEA of Sweden and SIG Combibloc, aiming to document the positive impacts of wood sourcing and forestry.
The Bonn Initiative is a joint effort to develop scientifically rigorous methodologies that will help quantify the benefits, such as improved carbon sequestration, that FSC-certified forests contribute to mitigating global warming and fighting climate change.
This data will allow companies to specifically identify the climate benefits derived from sourcing products from FSC-certified forests in the fight against global warming. It can also help governments with specific knowledge of the amount of carbon storage in responsibly managed forests, offering them better information on their progress towards meeting their UNFCCC Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) within the framework of the Paris Agreement.
FSC will set up a task force based on earlier work to develop methods that will indicate through scientifically-backed data the positive impacts of FSC certification as compared to conventional forest management practices.
“By protecting and restoring forest ecosystems and improving forest management practices, FSC has a direct positive impact on curbing global warming. Specifically quantifying these positive impacts will allow companies and consumers to better understand the importance of responsible forest management in helping to prevent global warming and eventually become a catalyst for increased demand of products that come from these sources,” says FSC International director general Kim Carstensen.
“We want to be net positive by contributing more to society and the environment than we take out. We call that going ‘way beyond good’. An important part of our net positive commitment is supporting global action on climate change as well as on the regeneration of natural resources. Since 2009, SIG has led the industry in providing FSC-certified carton packs. Today, more than 80 percent of SIG carton packs are carrying the FSC label. More than 60 billion SIG packs have now been sold with the FSC label. Showing the climate benefits of FSC-certified carton packs in a scientifically robust way will further support our target of 100 percent FSC labelled packs,” says Udo Felten, manager product related global environmental sustainability & affairs at SIG.
As important carbon sinks, forests play an essential role in reducing carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Responsible forest management, as embodied by FSC, has the capacity to mitigate global warming through specific measures that aim, among others, to improve forestry practices, reduce forest damage, increase restoration and reforestation, or avoid specific negative impacts such as forest fires.
A step beyond the Vancouver Declaration
The Bonn Initiative follows the Vancouver Declaration launched during FSC’s General Assembly held in Vancouver (Canada) in October of 2017, and is already supported by over 60 global companies.
The Vancouver Declaration recognizes the importance of FSC as a responsible forest management certification organization and commits the signatories to prioritize sourcing FSC-certified forest products on a global scale.
This new initiative is a next step to specifically quantify the contribution that the signatories to the Vancouver Declaration have in reducing carbon emission through responsible forest management.
The Bonn Initiative will equally be open to companies willing to follow-up on their earlier pledge through the Vancouver Declaration.
About FSC
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests. FSC was created in 1993 to help consumers and businesses identify products from well-managed forests and sets standards by which forests are certified, offering credible verification to people who are buying wood and wood products. Currently almost 200 million hectares and 57,000 businesses worldwide are certified to FSC standards. For more information visit www.fsc.org
About SIG
SIG Combibloc is one of the world’s leading solution providers for the food and beverage industry within the field of carton packs and filling technology. In 2016 the company achieved a turnover of 1,724 million Euro with more than 5,000 employees. Company information at www.sig.bz.
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