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PEFC announces debut at the Frankfurt Book Fair
In response to rapidly growing demand for PEFC-certified paper products from the publishing and print buying sectors, a multi-national team from PEFC will be exhibiting at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year.
Oct 22, 2008
Annual General Meeting July 2008: Chairman's Report
The Chairman’s Report
Mike Clark, now Chairman of PEFC Council remarked in the 2007 Annual Report that it would be a year remembered as a turning point for the PEFC. The last 8 years have seen PEFC develop from a small regional scheme into the global leader in certified forest area and of certified volumes of products reaching the market place. Council has now embarked on the final stages of setting out the future strategy of PEFC and in the UK we too will play our part in this with our own Business Development Plan which it is planned will commence for an initial three year period commencing in August 2008.
The recognition by the UK government, through the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) procurement process and other public sector and corporate procurement schemes, that PEFC delivers to the market legal and sustainable certified products has made an enormous contribution to the growth of our programme, which coupled with the ever increasing volumes of certified product becoming available, now places PEFC in a unique and strengthening position.
In the UK, we too have seen some extraordinary growth of the PEFC programme, with PEFC Chain of Custody certificates now reaching the 750 mark and showing no signs of flagging, which has seen numbers double on a year on year basis over the last three years. Logo Usage Licences are now approaching the 500 mark and the demand for PEFC Certified product is growing in all sectors, especially within the paper and printing sector. The interest shown by companies in achieving PEFC chain of custody certification has been ably supported by a growing number of Accredited and Notified Certification Bodies operating here in the UK and we anticipate that by the end of 2008, there will be some seven or eight in the market.
The introduction of the annual Notification Fee levy for all chain of custody certificate holders has enabled PEFC to raise more income from the whole supply chain rather than just from the forest owners. This additional income is being used to improve the level of services provided by PEFC Council and for more promotion of the PEFC brand. This will add value to PEFC certified products. The finances of PEFC in the UK have been transformed and we are now able to plan for more of the communications work we need to do to promote PEFC certified products into the marketplace, as well as meeting our national and international obligations as a member National Governing Body of PEFC Council. In addition to the monies we raise to conduct our affairs, PEFC UK is indebted to Finnish Forest Foundation and PEFC in both Norway and Sweden for their financial contributions for the communications work carried as part of our promotional efforts.
Through the introduction of the notification process, the Board agreed that all notified Chain of Custody certificate holders would automatically become members of PEFC UK Ltd.
In the spring of 2008, our first revision of the UK Certification Scheme for Sustainable Forest Management was unanimously endorsed by the Member Countries of PEFC, following a rigorous assessment by independent consultants which itself was then subject to Peer Review. Our Scheme will now operate for the next five years and permit PEFC UK to fulfil the stringent requirements of PEFC Council for forest management and chain of custody certification in the UK.
During the last year, in the early summer of 2007 PEFC UK hosted the National Secretaries Meeting in Edinburgh when some 40 representatives from over 25 countries attended the three day event. Early in 2008, we hosted a two day training seminar for chain of custody auditors and consultants. Over 50 attended the meeting which was held in South Scotland.
I would like to express my appreciation for all the hard work which the Board has given to our affairs over the last year and in particular to my predecessor, Martin Gale, who retired at the last AGM. The Board met on four occasions during the last twelve months and also established a number of working groups to examine specific topics. The Directors have also represented PEFC at many events including the Chatham House forum on illegal logging and other meetings throughout the year.
PEFC UK has also attended all the PEFC international meetings, including the General Assembly held in Munich last October. We have been represented on the Council Chain of Custody working group and PEFC UK has been instrumental in drafting the Guidance document to enable Chain of Custody to operate at a project level.
PEFC UK Market Outreach Programme
This has been another busy year for PEFC on the communications and marketing front with increasing demand for information about the PEFC programme and growing interest from the trade press across a range of sectors. This year, demand for chain of custody certification has been particularly strong from the paper/printing and publishing sector and more recently from the furniture manufacturing sector.
Procurement Policies
BREEAM BRE EcoHomes
Although the new national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes The Code for Sustainable Homes, launched in April 2007 has now replaced BRE EcoHomes for new builds in England and Wales, BRE EcoHomes continues to be used for refurbished housing in England and for new builds in Scotland and Wales.
PEFC is now awarded the equivalent number of points in the Responsible Sourcing of Materials section as FSC, CSA and SFI – i.e. Tier One 3, points towards materials credits.
The change in the points awarded for using PEFC-certified timber was announced in a July 2007 PROCESS NOTE from BRE which was sent to all BREEAM assessors.
Events, Exhibitions and Trade Shows
PEFC has hosted several events this year in order to raise awareness of its programme amongst its key target sectors.
PEFC exhibited again at Interbuild, the UK’s largest building and construction industry exhibition, for the second time last October. Exhibiting at this trade show provided an important opportunity for PEFC to raise awareness of its programme among a key target sector; the UK construction industry..
In November, PEFC exhibited at the TTJ Wood Futures conference in London’s Royal Festival Hall. The conference provided an opportunity for the 120-strong audience to hear a broad range of perspectives on the opportunities and challenges for timber in a marketplace where environmental concerns are rising rapidly up the agenda. A packed programme of speakers included, Dr Peter Bonfield of BRE highlighting opportunities for timber at the 2012 London Olympics and Paul King Chief Executive of the Green Building Council. Guy Thompson Head of Architecture and Sustainability at the Concrete Centre braved the lion’s den to offer the concrete sector’s perspective on sustainable development and construction while Phil Woolas, Environment Minister gave the keynote address.
In January, PEFC UK exhibited at LEAF (Leading European Architects Forum) London - an international conference and exhibition for architects, planners, contractors, developers and interior designers.
LEAF 2008 aims to facilitate meetings between architects with established and emerging suppliers. PEFC participated with the objective of encouraging architects to specify certified timber and outline the key factors driving demand for certified timber in the UK such as the Code for Sustainable Homes, CPET and Olympic Delivery Authority requirements.
Dinner at the House of Lords
In February PEFC hosted a dinner in the Palace of Westminster at the House of Lords. The 120 guests at the dinner, hosted by former UK Forestry Minister and current Chairman of United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) Lord Lindsay, were drawn from a wide range of stakeholders including; publishers, construction companies, retailers, trade associations, house builders and certifiers.
The keynote speaker was the Rt. Hon. John Gummer MP, former Secretary of State for the Environment, an experienced international negotiator respected in both the business and environmental communities.
Mr Gummer gave a well received speech asserting that timber traders who supply uncertified products should be “ashamed of themselves” and called on global forest certification schemes to work together to increase the amount of certified forest rather than arguing about the differences between the respective schemes, likening such arguments to “differences between the Baptists and strict Baptists…. To anyone else it’s not important”.
The need for the two global sustainable forest management certification schemes to work together to achieve the important goal of increasing the amount of the world’s certified forests, clearly resonated with those present and we at PEFC UK will strive to work together with stakeholders from all sectors to contribute towards this vital goal.
February also saw PEFC sponsor a Bookseller conference: Going Green: The Next Steps which was designed to take the book trade’s environmental publishing discussion to the next level. The conference was chaired by Helen Fraser, Managing Director of Penguin and chair of the joint Booksellers Association/Publishers’ Association Environmental Action Group. The conference attracted an audience of eighty delegates from both the publishing and retail sectors working in a range of discipline including production, marketing, sales, editorial and marketing – key decision makers for PEFC to reach.
In March it was the turn of the printing sector to be targetted with the PEFC message when PEFC materials were distributed to those attending a Print & Paper Monthly conference at Wentworth Golf Club. This combined with an earlier direct mail shot to the top 500 printers who had yet to obtain PEFC, has hopefully contributed to the growing demand for PEFC chain of custody certification from the print sector.
April was another busy month for PEFC. Reaching out to the UK packaging sector was the objective when PEFC sponsored an event at the Carton Conference 2008. The 2008 Carton Conference held on 7th & 8th April attracted a record 180 delegates. This event has now established itself as the ‘must attend ‘ event – held every two years – where the cream of the carton industry can meet and exchange ideas.
Mike Clark, Chairman of PEFC Council, participated as a member of a panel discussing customer expectations on environmental matters.
Later in the month, PEFC Director Ross Bradshaw spoke at a conference in London organised by Print Media Magazine – Is Print Sustainable? This conference was aimed at those with responsibility for marketing collateral such a brochures, catalogues, direct mail, point of sale and packaging. The conference also targetted the creative community as agencies are increasingly required to produce creative solutions to meet clients’ Corporate Social Responsibility policies.
In May the focus was back on timber when PEFC exhibited at Think 08 at London’s Excel exhibition centre. This was a conference and exhibition that brought together all sectors of the construction and property industries to unify and steer thinking on the environmental, economic and social challenges of the future. Its theme was sustainability in the built environment. During the course of the two day exhibition PEFC was able to promote its programme to a range of delegates and visitors to the conference and exhibition, from all sectors of the property, regeneration and construction industry.
New Promotional Materials
During the year, PEFC produced a new DVD which at 2 minutes long, is designed to provide a concise summary of the PEFC programme and what sustainable forestry management means in practice. New exhibition materials were commissioned to be used at the increasing number of events at which PEFC has a presence.
Newsletter
The PEFC e-newsletter, PEFC UK News is published on a quarterly basis and is now distributed to over 1,500 recipients from every sector with an interest in sourcing wood products from sustainably managed forests.
Vote of thanks
I would like to thank Willie Walker, National Secretary, and Hilary Khawam for their hard work during the year. A lot has been achieved and this would not have been possible without their dedication.
Peter Latham
Chairman PEFC UK Ltd
Oct 21, 2008
Illegal Logging Update: Chatham House 25 and 26 January 2007
Chatham House – Illegal Logging Update and Stakeholder Consultation
25th-26th January 2007
Royal Institute for International Affairs, Chatham House
10 St James’ Square
London SW1
To register contact: pkarypidou@chathamhouse.org.uk
Jan 4, 2007
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