07
Jan 2009 - Beijing, China - Forests owned
by members of the Chinese chapter of WWF's
Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN)
and certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) went beyond 1,000,000 hectares
for the very first time late last year.
Set up and managed by
WWF, GFTN aims to eliminate illegal logging
and improve the management of valuable and
threatened forests. By facilitating trade
links between companies committed to achieving
and supporting responsible forestry, the
GFTN creates market conditions that help
conserve the world’s forests while providing
economic and social benefits for the businesses
and people that depend on them.
This latest news marks
a significant step for GFTN-China in its
widescale promotion of FSC certification.
The FSC is an independent, not for profit,
non-governmental organization that provides
standard setting, trademark assurance and
accreditation services for companies and
organizations interested in responsible
forestry. WWF is one of the main supporters
of FSC globally and has been working on
FSC certification for about eight years
in China.
In July 2008, 116,217
ha of forest from the Fujian Yong’an Forestry
Group and in October 230,405 ha of forest
from the Heilongjiang Muling Forestry Bureau
got FSC certification. Both are GFTN-China
participants.
The Yong’an Forest Group
became the first enterprise with over 100,000
ha of FSC-certified forest in southern China.
Yong’an’s certification ensures the raw
material supplies to those timber processing
enterprises who demand FSC-certified material.
As a priority region
for forestry development, the collective
forest area in south China faces many challenges
due to the abundant forest species, complex
forest features and diversified land tenure.
“The complex situation there makes it difficult
to carry out large-scale FSC forest certification,”
said Dermot O’Gorman, WWF-China Country
Representative. “But Yong’an’s corporate
operation has effectively integrated forest
resources of different ownership, which
sets a good example for forest certification
and sustainable forest management in the
south.”
The State Forestry Administration
selected Yong’an as one of its pilot units
to develop their sustainable forest management
plan in 2006. At the same time, WWF China
and Tetra Pak jointly supported the company
to identify High Conservation Value Forests
(HCVFs) and provided technical training
on forest certification. Yong’an later passed
GFTN-China baseline appraisal and joined
the network as the 20th member.
Muling Forest Bureau
is in the south-east part of Heilongjiang
Province. The total forest managed area
is over 260,000 ha and the forest volume
is 22 million cubic metres. Since it was
founded Muling has produced 15.66 million
cubic metres of commercial timber.
“Muling is not only
located in a WWF priority area – the Amur/Heilong
Eco-Region – but it is also in the major
timber production and processing area of
north-east China neighboring the Russian
far-east,” said Mr. Jin Zhonghao, GFTN-China
Manager.
“Therefore Muling’s
getting FSC certification supports the global
demand for FSC-certified oak and other raw
materials produced in this area. Furthermore,
Muling can promote its successful experience
and certified raw material to the international
market through the platform of GFTN.” With
support from IKEA, WWF China provided technical
training to Muling during its certification
process.
Mr. Yuan Jilian, Director
General of Muling, said: “FSC certification
is the most acknowledged international forest
certification scheme that promotes the well-managed
forest practices with the impetus of market
mechanism. It is also a platform to make
the forestry enterprises more competitive
in practising responsible forestry and attracting
investment.”
Mr Su Ming, Deputy Director
of International Cooperation, the State
Forestry Administration of China, said:
“Sustainable management is a long-term goal
for China’s forestry development while forest
certification is one of the most effective
methods to ensure this goal.
“We’re delighted by
the cooperation between domestic forestry
companies and international conservation
organizations to introduce such advance
management concepts and approaches to China.”
+ More
Natural gas supply cuts
by Russia is a wake-up call to Europe to
strengthen energy efficiency and renewable
energy efforts
07 Jan 2009 - Brussels,
Belgium - The recent shut-off of natural
gas supplies by Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom
is strongly undermining the public European
trust in an otherwise reliable trade partner.
It will also cause major recasts on the
EU's energy security which is highly dependent
on fossil fuels imports from Russia.
It’s time for the EU
to invest in domestic clean energy sources
and improve energy efficiency, says WWF.
WWF is not judging as
to whether and how the conflict between
Ukraine and Russia on gas supplies and gas
prices is justified, but strongly believes
that the EU’s dependency needs to stop -
and can be overcome by ambitious measures
to save energy and boost renewable energies
and low-carbon technologies.
The EU is importing
about 100 million tons of oil equivalents
of natural gas from Russia each year, about
one quarter of total natural gas consumption
in the EU. So far, comparably clean natural
gas has been broadly supported by WWF as
a logical mid-term alternative to high-polluting
coal in the power sector and oil in the
heating sector.
"The Russian gas
policy is highly risky as it fully undermines
the public confidence in this low-carbon
fossil fuel. Its time to reconsider the
role for natural gas as a bridging fuel
to sustainable energy", said Stephan
Singer, WWF International Director of Energy
Policy in Brussels.
"We cannot promote
a fuel anymore which is used as a weapon
by some countries and certain corporations
against consumers".
Instead, WWF strongly
supports immediate legislation on energy
efficiency in buildings and the promotion
of renewable energies in the power sector.
Europe is presently reviewing the Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive, aiming
at reducing energy consumption of all buildings
across the EU.
"This is a splendid
opportunity to reduce energy use by about
the same amount as EU’s gas import from
Russia ", said Arianna Vitali, WWF's
Policy Officer for Energy Conservation in
Buildings.
"In the long term
with strong energy requirements for buildings
we can reduce dependence from fossil fuels
even much more and also cut CO2 emissions
by 460 million tons per year - which is
about ten percent of EU's total climate
pollution".
In the power sector,
WWF promotes a strong move to large scale
renewable energy.
"This natural gas
crisis shall not become a field day for
perceived secure electricity fuels such
as coal and nuclear. It is a huge opportunity
for the EU now to develop substantive domestic
clean energy sources such as offshore wind,
solar power and clean biomass rather than
relying on natural gas as a bridging fuel."
added Singer.
Note to the editors
As reported in the analysis, “U-values for
a better performance of buildings” published
by Eurima in November 2007 whilst buildings
account for 40% of all carbon dioxide emissions
in the EU, simple measures such as roof
and wall insulation have the potential to
reduce emissions by 460 million tonnes a
year.
Stephan Singer, Director of Energy Policy,
WWF International
Arianna Vitali, Policy Officer for Energy
Conservation in Buildings, WWF European
Policy Office
Stefania Campogianni, Press Officer, WWF
European Policy Office
