The forest giant provides reputable environmental certification – « Damn »

The highly regarded environmental certification in the forest and paper market, Forest Stewardship Council, FSC, will guarantee sustainable forestry. The labeling should prevent deforestation, protect the rights of indigenous peoples, biodiversity, water quality and carbon storage.

For example, FSC-certified companies must not cut down forest areas with particularly high natural values, so-called key biotopes, where threatened species can live, and must take into account reindeer husbandry.

DN revealed last yearL to SCA harvesting large areas with key biotopes.

SCA now chooses to leave the Swedish certification, from 1 June.

This is evident in an email to the international FSC organization from Jonas Mårtensson, SCA’s business area manager Skog, which DN has taken part in.

In the e -mail he writes that the company is currently facing « significant challenges » and that the rules within FSC threaten the availability of raw materials « and, by extension, the availability of climate smart, renewable bio -based products in the global market ».

Jenny Wik Karlsson, operations manager and federal lawyer at the Swedish Sami National Association, tells DN that she is disappointed.

– It’s sad. It is damn good, simply. This shows that you do not want to conduct sustainable forestry in Sweden. They choose the simplest path to be able to cut as much as possible. The demands made from us, Sami villages and the environmental movement are not unreasonable, but are in line with the conventions on human rights, climate and biodiversity that Sweden has signed.

The SCA area manager particularly highlights the climate change as a reason to submit environmental certification. He writes that FSC’s current standards « focus tightly on conservation and biodiversity », without taking sufficient account of « the critical role » that « forest products play in climate change ».

In several articles, DN has described that the forest’s ability to absorb and stores carbon dioxide is an important part of the possibilities of slowing down climate change. Instead, SCA wants to focus on the products after harvesting can store carbon or replace plastic and fossil fuels.

« We see an urgent need for FSC to adopt a more balanced approach, where climate benefit and biodiversity are taken into account in parallel. »

Bengt-Gunnar Jonsson, professor of biology at Mid Sweden University is surprised:

– This came as a news to me. You have to think about what consequences it will have, he tells DN.

He states that the certification system did not give what was hoped for the protection of the environment since it was introduced in the 1990s. But Jonsson thinks the situation would have been worse today without it, after all.

He questions that SCA argues for sustainability and climate when leaving FSC.

– It raises some question. What do you mean by sustainability? If you conduct more intensive forestry and take forests that should have protection-then you lose the dimension of sustainability that deals with species and biodiversity, says Bengt-Gunnar Jonsson and continues:

– This is part of a story that we must use forest biomass instead of fossil for the sake of the climate. But it is, as I said, a story. After all, the fastest effect on the climate would be greatly reduced on harvesting. It has emerged a strong scientific understanding of this.

Anders Esselin is chairman of FSC in Sweden:

– I think it’s really boring. We have had a dialogue with SCA for a long time and I had hoped that we had been able to reach a solution. For me, FSC is a very important platform where different interests can have a dialogue. Therefore, it is a shame when big players leave.

SCA will continue to be members of FSC internationally and continue to be certified in the Baltics and in some parts of the production chain globally.

DN has applied for SCA which confirms that you are leaving FSC in Sweden, but says it is temporary.

– We take a break, says Jonas Mårtensson, SCA’s business area manager Skog, to DN.

He refers to the company’s press department that asks to return.