The Global State of Forest Certification Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General, PEFC International 1

Sustainable Forest Management How we define SFM 2

What is Forest Certification?  Market-based, voluntary tool to promote sustainable forest management  Components: – Standards (Sustainable Forest Management, Chain of Custody) – System of Verification (Certification, Accreditation) – Logos and Claims (Promotion)  Processes: – Local forest dialogue – Consensus driven – Multi-stakeholder – Inclusive 3

Forest Certification Two global systems Globally, two systems, PEFC and FSC, promote sustainable forest management through certification against requirements developed through their respective standard setting processes.  PEFC - Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification is a global alliance of independent national forest certification systems and considered “bottom-up”.  FSC - is an international membership organization with a network of FSC National Offices, FSC National Representatives and FSC National Focal Points and considered “top-down”. 4

Two Global Systems Differences & Similarities  History/Origin  Approaches  Requirements  Governance 5

6 Certified Forest Area, by System

 28% of the world’s industrial roundwood supply is certified  60% of the total area certified to PEFC  10% of the world’s forests are certified 10% 28% 60% 7 Certification Globally Progress so far

Benefits of Forest Certification Direct benefits 1.Codification of best practice in the forest sector 2.Implementation of sustainable forest management 3.Assurances of legality, sustainability and traceability 4.Market access & incentives/demand for certified products 8

 Global, not-for-profit, non-governmental organization  World's largest forest certification system with 60% of the certified forest area  Alliance of national certification systems which meet PEFC’s globally recognized Sustainability Benchmarks  Required or recommended by public and private procurement policies globally  The PEFC label is only available on certified products, giving responsible companies unique access to a trusted label 9 What is PEFC? Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification

PEFC Globally Current Expansion and Outlook

Benefits of Forest Certification Direct benefits 1.Codification of best practice in the forest sector 2.Implementation of sustainable forest management 3.Assurances of legality, sustainability and traceability 4.Market access & incentives/demand for certified products 11

Market Demand Businesses request certification: CGF Consumer Goods Forum  one of the largest global industry networks is pledging to achieve zero net deforestation by  to achieve this goal and to help promote sustainable forest management, the CGF recommends companies purchase products that are certified by e.g. PEFC. 12

Market Demand Businesses request certification: WBCSD World Business Council for Sustainable Development  The WBCSD is a CEO-led organization made up of some of the world’s leading corporations.  “WBCSD members are committed to promote certification to forest owners, encouraging full utilization of existing forest certification systems, such as PEFC, throughout the forest products value chain.” James Griffiths, Managing Director, WBCSD 13

Market Demand Selected Procurement Policies and Guidelines 14  PEFC is recognized by the Belgian, British, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, and Swiss Timber Procurement Policies; EC Guidelines on Green Public Procurement  EU Ecolabel, European Retail Environmental Sustainability Code  Green Building Councils (incl. Australia, Italy, Singapore), the Code for Sustainable Homes, BREEAM (Netherlands, UK) and SKA rating (UK)

A 2013 survey by the Association for Consumer Research (GfK) found that  80% of German citizens believe that companies making sustainability claims must be able to provide proof. Association for Consumer Research 2013 (treee.es/1dvUahs) A 2013 study by Cone Communications identified  on-package messages (on the package or label) as the most effective communication channel Cone Communications Social Impact Study (treee.es/1gcLXMo) 15 Sustainability Claims Consumers want evidence on-product

Environmental Information Consumers trust labels 16 Growing demand for environmental information on packaging:  54% of consumers trust environmental labels  37% of consumers regularly search for environmental logos on food packaging  Purchasing a environmentally-friendly packaged product is a key environmental action that consumers engage in Environmental Research 2013: A Global Study of the Attitudes of Consumers and Influencers (treee.es/env-trends)

Sources of Information Labels most trusted source “Consumers […] look to certification seals or labels on product packaging (40%) as the most trusted source of information about whether a product is environmentally and socially responsible.” 2012 Regeneration Consumer Survey ( treee.es/regen- study ) 17

Germany: Growing RecognitionSelected Country Surveys 18 Source: * Mobium Group (2012) ** Firefly MilwardBrown (2013) *** ifop (2013) Source: GfK ( ) Consumer Recognition Do you know the PEFC label?

19 The PEFC Label

Benefits of Forest Certification Direct benefits 1.Codification of best practice in the forest sector 2.Implementation of sustainable forest management 3.Assurances of legality, sustainability and traceability 4.Market access & incentives/demand for certified products 20

Chain of Custody (CoC) Sustainability & Traceability  establishes the link from the forest to the market, by assuring that wood and wood-based products can be traced back to PEFC- certified forests and non-controversial sources  certificates are issued by independent certification bodies, after an on-site audit of a company against the international PEFC Chain of Custody standard  is precondition for use of the PEFC labels to promote products in the marketplace  available globally  allows for “PEFC Certified” claim 21

CoC & Legality Verification Legality & Regulatory Requirements (EUTR, Lacey Act)  PEFC Due Diligence System (DDS) certification (integral to PEFC CoC certification)  three elements:  Information (tree species & country/region/FMU of origin)  Risk Assessment  Risk Mitigation  can be used to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements such as the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR); Lacey Act  allows for “PEFC Controlled Sources” claim 22

Benefits of Forest Certification Direct benefits 1.Codification of best practice in the forest sector 2.Implementation of sustainable forest management 3.Assurances of legality, sustainability and traceability 4.Market access & incentives/demand for certified products 23

Responsible Forest Management PEFC certification promotes sustainability Healthy Forests  Maintain and increase the health and vitality of forest ecosystems, biodiversity  Protect ecologically important forest areas, wildlife, waterways, and soil  Prohibit forest conversions; no certification of plantations established by conversions  Avoid genetically modified trees, most hazardous chemicals  Prevent unauthorized activities such as illegal logging Healthy Communities  Promote the long term health and well-being of forest communities  Respect forests’ multiple functions, give due regard to the role of forestry in rural development  Involve forest communities, forest-dependent people in forest management  Recognize indigenous people’s rights, incl. free, prior and informed consent  Protect sites with recognized specific historical, cultural or spiritual significance  Safeguard areas fundamental to meeting the basic needs of local communities Healthy Workers  Comply with all fundamental ILO conventions; safe working conditions  Consideration of new opportunities for employment 24

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Group Certification Making certification accessible and affordable  Alternative approach to individual certification  Allowing multiple forest owners to become certified as a Group  Share the financial costs of obtaining certification  A Group Entity represents the individual forest owners, with the overall responsibility for ensuring conformity of forest management in the certified area with the PEFC requirements  Also available for PEFC Chain of Custody certification 26

Forest Management Delivers sustainable wood raw material that is: legal: wood is harvested in compliance with local legislation and international agreements from well managed forests: are safeguarding environmental, social & economic values traceable: the raw material supply chain is verified from the forest to the finished product 3 Chain of Custody In Summary What forest certification delivers

Benefits of Forest Certification Direct benefits 1.Codification of best practice in the forest sector 2.Implementation of sustainable forest management 3.Assurances of legality, sustainability and traceability 4.Market access & incentives/demand for certified products 28

PEFC’s Bottom-Up Approach 29 National Standard Multi- stakeholder process Consensus- based decision making National public consultation Pilot testing International Sustainability Benchmarks Panel of Experts Board recommen- dation Independent assessment Global public consultation Approval by members Revision required Application for assessment General Assembly

PEFC’s Bottom-Up Approach  Forest certification standards are country specific adaptation of local forest conditions – ecological, tenure adaptation to the local legislation integration of needs and expectations of local stakeholders consideration of development priorities  National ownership of YOUR certification scheme   Flexibility to meet PEFC requirements in a relevant way  Mutual recognition of your scheme regionally and internationally  Regular systematic revision of the standard and criteria at national level reflect developments in forest practices, research reflect values of society 30

Ongoing technical support & guidance to approx. 20 countries developing national certification schemes 31 Scheme Development Support

PEFC Projects 32

PEFC Initiatives 33

Benefits of Forest Certification Direct benefits 1.Codification of best practice in the forest sector 2.Implementation of sustainable forest management 3.Assurances of legality, sustainability and traceability 4.Market access & incentives/demand for certified products 34

Benefits of Forest Certification Hidden benefits  Institutionalized best practices  Give value to forest resources  Quantifies SFM (Sustainable Forest Management)  Social benefits (incl. social justice, preservation of culture, social harmony)  Socioeconomic benefits (incl. rural/community development, NWFP – non-wood forest products)  Can be used for integrated landscape planning  Integration into other sustainability initiatives / commodity certification  Ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogues  Contributes to capacity building  Inclusion of all interested stakeholders 35

Forest Certification Dichotomy 36 Demand-side requirements Supply-side needs Forest certification

Conclusion  Forest certification contributes many elements to improving forest sustainability  One of the most robust ‘eco-labels’ out there!  Forest certification is not the panacea, but contributes to tackling a wide variety of issues & challenges  Dialogue will be an essential component to bridging supply side realities with market requirements  Principled Pragmatism is the name of the game

THANK YOU! 38