Forest owner representative elected as Vice Chair to PEFC Board of Directors

13 November 2013 News

Ms. Natalie Hufnagl-Jovy has been elected as Vice Chair to the PEFC Board of Directors at the PEFC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After serving on the Board as a Board Member since 2008, Ms. Hufnagl-Jovy will act as Vice Chair for a three year period.

Ms. Hufnagl-Jovy is a Senior Policy Advisor with the Consortium of the German Forest Owner Associations (AGDW). She draws from eight years of experience as Secretary General of the Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF) and is a former member of the Board of IFFA, the International Family of Forest Alliance. She also has extensive experience with international organizations, including the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

“Having been present at the inaugural PEFC General Assembly in Paris in 1999, I am very proud of the growth that PEFC has experienced. It is especially relevant for me that PEFC has never lost focus on considering the special circumstances of small- and family forest owners, and continues to provide them with a workable, accessible solution to demonstrate their responsible forest management practices,” said Natalie Hufnagl-Jovy in her acceptance speech. “It is my pleasure to offer my capacity and expertise to PEFC as a Vice-Chair. “

The General Assembly also (re-)elected Ms. Genevieve Chua, Mr. Julian Walker-Palin, Mr. Olivier Bertrand, and Mr. Pedro Albizu, representatives for trade, retailers, forest owners, and the paper & packaging sector, respectively, as members of its Board of Directors for a three year term from 2013 to 2016.

Trade representative Genevieve Chua has been working in the paper industry since 1990. After leaving KPMG as an Audit Supervisor, she was the Chief Financial Officer for PaperlinX, Singapore before assuming her current role of Managing Director. Mrs. Chua has a Bachelor of Accountancy from the National University of Singapore and is a Certified Public Accountant in Singapore as well as a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Accountants.

Julian Walker-Palin is a retail specialist and has been Head of Sustainability for Asda, the UK arm of Wal-Mart, since August 2007. In this role, he leads the Corporate Sustainability Team, which advises Asda on sustainability policy and strategy. He regularly engages with environmental NGOs on a wide range of sustainability issues and is a lead manager on Wal-Mart’s global sustainable timber project. He also works as a conservation volunteer and tree warden in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in North Yorkshire.

Olivier Bertrand represents forest owners and is the Vice-President of the National Federation of Forest Owners Unions (CEPF - France). Since 1998 he has been a Member of the “Regions Committee” of the European Union, Member of the Board, Chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, Vice Chair of the Political Party PPE in charge of production of reports on GMO’s, European Forest Strategy, mountain policy.

Paper & packaging representative Pedro Albizu has a Doctorate in Forestry Engineering and Expert in Green, Wood and Paper Markets Marketing and International Fundraising, MBA from The University of the Basque Country (Bilbao). Mr. Albizu has developed his career in the Smurfit Kappa Group, becoming a member of its executive committee and Director of Energy Sourcing where he fostered the leadership of the company in certified paper-based packaging. Pedro served on the Board of ASPAPEL (Spanish Pulp and Paper Association) and CEPI.

The election of Ms. Hufnagl-Jovy and the Board members was based on the recommendations from the PEFC Council Nominations Committee. The Nominations Committee, comprising of Mr. Clifford Schneider, Mr. Kit Prins and Lord Jamie Lindsay, carefully considered the current composition of the board and the challenges facing the PEFC Council before proposing the candidates to the General Assembly.

PEFC would also like to use this opportunity to express its gratitude to Mr. Antti Sahi and Ms. Karen Brandt, who have decided to step down from their responsibilities as PEFC Board members.

The current Board of Directors:

• William Street, Chairman
• Sheam Satkuru, Vice Chairman
• Natalie Hufnagl-Jovy, Vice Chairman
• Juan Carols Jintiach
• Michael Proschek-Hauptmann
• Hans Drielsma
• Sébastien Genest
• Peter Latham
• Joseph Lawson
• Genevieve Chua
• Julian Walker-Palin
• Olivier Bertrand
• Pedro Albizu