Informed procurement choices can support the sustainable management of forests, help protect workers’ health and the rights of the people who depend on forests. Growing numbers of private and public sector actors are setting ambitious targets to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. The question remains: How to implement and deliver on these commitments?
“The WRI & WBCSD Sustainable Procurement Guide for wood and paper-based products helps the reader make informed choices and understand the challenges developing and implementing procurement policies for paper, packaging and solid wood products,” says Ruth Nogueron of WRI, who has been working on the tool for several years. It identifies and synthesizes 10 key aspects, encompassing legal, environmental and social issues, that underpin sustainable sourcing and provides resources to tackle these challenges.
“The Guide has helped us to obtain a clearer understanding of the issues that needed to be addressed in revising our sourcing policy for pulp and paper,” says Dawn Krueger, Sustainability Supply Chain Manager at 3M. “Tracing pulp and paper to the origin of their raw material is fundamental to fully assessing those products’ environmental and social impacts. This enables informed decision-making, helps assure sourcing of legally harvested materials, and promotes best practices and conservation of unique forest values. We cite the Sustainable Procurement Guide in our Pulp & Paper Sourcing Policy guidance, to promote its use by our suppliers as well.”
“Knowing your supply chain increases transparency and reduces risks. Sourcing from well-managed forests helps to bring more of forests under sustainable management and expand markets for responsible forest products,” says Riikka Joukio, SVP Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Metsä Group. “Accurate and credible information is key to preventing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging good social practices and retaining forest resources for future generations.”
For more information:
- Visit the Sustainable Procurement Guide’s website
- Click here to register for upcoming webinars about the Guide hosted by WRI and WBCSD