Reflections on 2025 and looking to the year ahead

By Subhra Bhattacharjee, Director General, FSC International 

In 2025, FSC continued to build through learning and collaboration. We expanded forest and producer certification and strengthened the diversity of our membership, bringing together economic, environmental, and social perspectives from across the globe. 

It was also a year of deepening dialogue across the FSC system, as certificate holders, stakeholders, and members came together for meaningful discussions online and in person. The Remedy Forum in Jakarta and the General Assembly in Panama City were important forums for meaningful exchanges. This engagement and consensus-building is essential to ending deforestation and remain at the heart of our work.  

Below are three important takeaways from the year and how they will inform our work in 2026. 

1. FSC continued to grow its impact while strengthening the foundations of the system.  

By the end of December 2025, FSC-certified forest area had surpassed 171 million hectares globally, with forest management certification growing by more than 6% (over 12 million hectares) over the past year. Chain of Custody certificates exceeded 68,000 worldwide, increasing by over 7%. Europe retains the largest certified forest area, and the Asia-Pacific region now accounts for around half of all Chain of Custody certificates.  

Alongside this growth, FSC strengthened key system foundations, including through General Assembly decisions that mandate the development of a digital information and volume control roadmap, the adoption of an outcome-based approach to the conservation of intact forest landscapes, certification of restoration, and the further development of solutions such as Verified Impact, linking certification to tangible climate and biodiversity outcomes. 

2. The 10th FSC General Assembly was a critical governance moment.  

Members debated and adopted motions in an exercise in democratic decision-making, that set clear priorities for the period ahead — including strengthening system integrity, advancing FSC’s approach to Indigenous Peoples’ rights and engagement, and improving market access and support for smallholders and community forestry operations. Together, these decisions provide a concrete mandate: to strengthen FSC’s leadership as an organization and certification system, ensure accessibility where it matters most, and reinforce the robustness of the FSC system in the face of increasing complexity. 

Complexity – such as working in contexts with Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation (IPVI), being the only forest certification system to engage in remedy, and an increasingly unpredictable regulatory and political context – has required FSC to adapt while remaining firmly anchored in its mission and acting in the long-term interest of forests and forest-dependent peoples. 

3. FSC faced public scrutiny highlighting the importance of stakeholder accountability.  

This scrutiny is not incidental. It is the consequence of setting the bar high and of occupying a leadership role in responsible forest management. While demanding, it is inseparable from FSC’s relevance and responsibility — and it sharpens our focus on doing the work well. 

As we reflect on the past year, I would like to thank all members, certificate holders, certification bodies, and stakeholders for your engagement and commitment. 2025 delivered clear progress but also demanded resilience and resolve.  

Looking ahead, 2026 will be a year of consolidation and delivery. Our priorities are to scale-up responsible forest management worldwide, strengthen the integrity of our system, and advance forest-based solutions to the global challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Achieving this will require strong partnerships and a clear, shared vision.  

May 2026 be a year of dialogue, listening, and progress through collaboration for forests and the people who depend on them.