Membership Principles for Sustainable Forest Product Companies

Geneva, 16 May 2007 - After several months of extensive internal and external stakeholder consultations, members of the WBCSD’s Sustainable Forest Products Industry (SFPI) project agreed at the Montreux Liaison Delegates Meeting on a set of Membership Principles and Responsibilities ( 302 kb).

The principles lay out the sustainability performance aspirations of SFPI members and confirm their commitment to sustainable development and to balancing their efforts in economic growth and social and ecological progress, covering both forestry and processing functions.

The companies involved in the project – Aracruz Celulose, Grupo Portucel Soporcel, International Paper, MeadWestvaco, Metsäliitto, Mondi, Nippon Paper, Norske Skog, Oji Paper, Sappi, SCG Paper, Stora Enso and Weyerhaeuser – make up for nearly half of global annual sales of forest, paper and packaging products.

“These principles and responsibilities confirm the position of our members as the leading global forest product companies and reflects the expectations of key audiences, including customers and social and environment NGOs,” said James Griffiths, director of the SFPI project. “And these are not empty words; each company will use their sustainable development reports to periodically reflect progress against these principles.”

He explained that stakeholder relations with the forestry sector have been historically fragile, and the WBCSD has been engaging in multi-stakeholder dialogues since 1994, when it started work on the forests products industry.

In 1999, it formed The Forest Dialogue (TFD) with the World Bank and the World Resources Institute (WRI) to build stakeholder alliances and, starting in 2002, jointly address critical sustainable forest management challenges such as independent forest management certification, the role of intensive plantations and combating illegal logging.

“These activities and other discussion processes have helped to improve industry and NGO relationships and understanding of each other’s perspectives. The intention is that these Membership Principles and Responsibilities will further promote accountability and transparency of the sector” Griffiths added.

The CEOs of all SFPI companies have formally endorsed the principles which are now a condition for membership for other companies wanting to join the project.

The SFPI is also moving forward with its Sustainable Procurement of Forest Products Guide, due to be published in mid-2007. The guide, being developed in partnership with the WRI, aims to increase demand for forest products that are harvested and manufactured on a legal and sustainable basis and targets business to business customers.

The guide will help procurement managers understand the supply chain for the forest products they purchase, identify available initiatives, resources and other tools. It will provide reliable, impartial and technically easy-to-understand advice on creating and implementing effective, responsible procurement policies.

It provides a framework of eight key questions on the procurement of forest products and examines 24 initiatives and tools such as The Green Building Initiative, the Tropical Forest Trust, and the Forest Stewardship Council’s controlled wood standard.

“By selecting sustainably produced wood products, procurement managers are providing the needed incentives for landowners, manufacturers and communities to make long-term commitments to sustainable forestry,” Griffiths said.

• Membership Principles and Responsibilities ( 302 kb)

Author WBCSD Publication Date 16 May 2007 Document Type Publications WBCSD news Issue/Topic Forest Products Company Anglo American plc Aracruz Celulose S.A. MeadWestvaco Corporation Metsäliitto Group Nippon Paper Group, Inc. Portucel Soporcel Group Siam Cement Group (SCG) Stora Enso Oyj Weyerhaeuser Company Source WBCSD Include In RSS WBCSD News & Updates		302 kb