Exploring new trends in sustainable forestry and green finance

1 October 2019 Event report

The second edition of the PEFC EU Policy Seminar took place on 26 September 2019 in Brussels.

Over 90 participants, speakers and panellists from the industry, the forestry sector, governments, EU institutions and PEFC national members discussed the new trends in sustainable forestry and certification in the “ReThink SFM” session, and the opportunities of green finance for the forestry sector in the “Sustainable Finance” session.

The lively debate continued during the PEFC 20th Anniversary Cocktail. Once again, we could see the importance of PEFC’s role in the EUforestry policy scene as a forum for debate and consensus building.

The PEFC EU office is considering hosting a seminar evolving around the issue of biodiversity policies in 2020.

Session 1: Re Think Sustainable Forest Management

The expectations placed on our forests are growing, as are expectations in terms of sustainability and contributing to climate change mitigation. This session provided an overview of some of the latest trends in forest management and sustainability insurance.

Speakers included: ISEAL on landscape certification, ATIBT on sustainable forest management in the Congo Basin, CEPF on certification and European small-forest holders, PEFC and the new Sustainable Forest Mangement benchmark standard, EFI on climate smart forestry and Université Catholique de Louvain on social representations of forests in Europe.

Session 2: Forestry and Forest-Based Industries in the Sustainable Finance Action Plan

This session looked at the opportunities for forestry and forest-based industries within the EU Sustainable Finance legislative package and the Taxonomy. Speakers from the Climate Bond Initiative, Nordea the Nordic Bank, the EU Commission (DG Environment) and the European State Forest Organisations shared their views.