FPAC: Global Forest Sector & Workers Providing Solutions for Pandemic Recovery

Earlier today, the global forestry advisory body to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAO”) released details on how sustainable forest management and forest products are well-positioned to drive a healthy, green, and inclusive recovery as we continue to face serious challenges related to COVID-19 around the world.

In its statement released in Rome, Italy today, the Advisory Committee of Sustainable Forest-based Industries (“ACSFI”) referenced the essential role that forestry and forest products have played during the pandemic – and how they can help drive much-needed economic recovery.

Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of Forest Products Association of Canada (“FPAC”) and President of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (“ICFPA”) released the following statement today:

“This year has been incredibly difficult. Millions of lives have been forever changed – over 35 million people sick, over 1 million lives lost, and economic devastation and pain for too many families and businesses around the world.

It has forced all of us to think about how we can help in our communities, how we can better provide for our people, and how we can support growth and economic recovery that is good for the planet and leaves no one behind.

ICFPA welcomes today’s statement by ACSFI to align with United Nations ambitions to build a prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable future that involves beating the virus, addressing climate change, and creating economic opportunities for workers and their families.

The forest sector and its workers around the globe continue to embrace this call to action by delivering quality products with health and environmental benefits, practical solutions to lower our carbon footprint, and family-supporting jobs for our people. Today’s global statement confirms that we have an opportunity to do even more.”

You can read the full ACSFI statement here: http://www.fao.org/forestry/industries/9530/en/

About Forest Products Association of Canada

FPAC provides a voice for Canada’s wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. The $73.6-billion-a-year forest products industry represents 12 per cent of Canada’s manufacturing GDP and is one of Canada’s largest employers operating in over 600 communities, providing 230,000 direct jobs, and over 600,000 indirect jobs across the country. The ICFPA serves as a forum of global dialogue, coordination and co-operation. Currently, the ICFPA represents 18 pulp, paper, wood and fibre-based associations that encompass 28 countries, including many of the top pulp, paper and wood producers around the world.

Contact:

Kerry Patterson-Baker – Vice President Communications – kpatterson-baker@fpac.ca – (613) 563-1441 ext. 314

Source: Forest Products Association of Canada