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Podcasts
Forest for the future podcast series
Episode 71: Can you count the impact of FSC on biodiversity? Featuring Joeri A. Zwerts, Assistant professor at Ecology and Biodiversity, Utrecht University
12.06.2024 This episode delves into the tangible impact of FSC on wildlife and biodiversity. We explore the proven benefits and the methodologies used to measure them. Join us as we discuss a groundbreaking study recently published in Nature Magazine. This research, the largest of its kind, assesses the effect of FSC certification on tropical forests. Our guest, Joeri A. Zwerts from the University of Utrecht, shares insights from his five-year study conducted in Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon. He tested FSC's core promise: to protect biodiversity and wildlife. Learn about the challenges he faced and the significant findings on FSC's real impact on the ground. Tune in to understand how conservation efforts translate into measurable results in the forests.
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Episode 70: A new era for FSC? The effect of technology releases and legislation featuring Michael Marus, Chief Information Officer, and Marc Jessel, Chief System Integrity Officer at FSC international
18.03.2024 In this episode we are going to talk big picture. The thing is that FSC is on the brink of a new era of our existence. Or at least that is my feeling before entering into the conversation with the two guests. We are in a few months releasing our blockchain tool to the world. We are finalizing new voluntary module to support compliance with upcoming legislations – and FSC doesn’t normally have voluntary modules. We are linking all of our digital innovations into a few new user facing tools. And all of this is happening at an unprecedented speed for FSC. Do my guests agree that we are moving faster and that we within the next six months will see a completely new FSC offering emerging? That is what I’ve invited Marc Jessel, Chief System Integrity Officer and Michael Marus, Chief Information Officer & Acting Head of Resources and Services into the studio for a conversation on.
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Episode 69: Proof from the ground and sky - Combining forensic testing and earth observation, Featuring Scot McQueen, Senior Technology Officer at FSC International and Jade Saunders, Director of World Forest ID
29.01.2024 This episode focus on origin verification and the tools companies, authorities and organizations such as FSC can use to prove that products come from where we think they come from. Some of these tools are currently being together into a web, that can give undisputable yet cost effective proof by organisations such as World Forest ID, who are now combining earth observation – satellite imagery – and forensic testing from the ground. To enlighten me on what is being worked on inside and outside of FSC within this field I’ve invited Scot McQueen, Senior Technology Officer at FSC International and Jade Saunders, Director of World Forest ID.
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Episode 68: How can we help you? – How FSC is aligning to EUDR (Chapter 2)
21.12.2023 CHAPTER 2 OF 2. The European Deforestation regulation is coming and companies around the globe are working fast to align to the new requirements. In these two episodes of Forest for the Future we dive into the details of the legislation and how companies might get to the level of data points needed. We get nerdy about how FSC will adjust to the new data fields needed. We will talk about how we can help and when. And we will touch base on what is causing headaches when adjusting to the new legislation. To get down to the level of detail needed, where I’ve invited Joanna Nowakowska, FSC System Performance Director and Michael Marus, FSC Chief Information Officer and Matteo Mascolo, Lead EU Affairs & Engagement for Europe to help me get up to speed. This is a large topic and therefore this episode will consist of two chapters.
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Episode 67: How can we help you? – How FSC is aligning to EUDR (Chapter 1)
21.12.2023 CHAPTER 1 OF 2. The European Deforestation regulation is coming and companies around the globe are working fast to align to the new requirements. In these two episodes of Forest for the Future we dive into the details of the legislation and how companies might get to the level of data points needed. We get nerdy about how FSC will adjust to the new data fields needed. We will talk about how we can help and when. And we will touch base on what is causing headaches when adjusting to the new legislation. To get down to the level of detail needed, where I’ve invited Joanna Nowakowska, FSC System Performance Director and Michael Marus, FSC Chief Information Officer and Matteo Mascolo, Lead EU Affairs & Engagement for Europe to help me get up to speed. This is a large topic and therefore this episode will consist of two chapters.
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Episode 66: What can filtering water tells us about biodiversity? Utilizing new techniques like eDNA and bio-acoustics
11.12.2023 In this episode we talk about biodiversity and how we might use new methods to new methods to monitor the health of biodiversity in certified and non-certified forests. FSC has embarked on complementing our standards with a robust monitoring and evaluation system to prove the benefits of certification on forest ecosystems. This proof should come in a form, that can be aggregated, is data driven and possible to collect at scale in certified forests. To solve this, FSC has started looking into using technologies such as eDNA and bio acoustics to determine forest health and evaluate biodiversity within forest concessions. We now have result of the first pilot of using eDNA to compare impact of FSC certification in Gabon. To teach me about this pilot and to share some of the results, I have invited some of the people behind the project into the studio. They are Franck Trolliet,, Programme Manager for Monitoring & Evaluation at FSC, Rodolphe Metayer, Project Director at Terea, and Vincent Prie, project director at Spygen.
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Episode 65:Joining forces from forest to ocean - Tropical timber in the Yachting Industry
16.10.2023 In this episode we focus on how we through collaboration and innovation can improve the way entire industries source. More specifically we are going to look at how we through joint effort are trying to make the sourcing in the yachting industry more sustainable. Timber has been used on the oceans for hundreds of years. But there is a challenge: The species used most often are technically superior but comes with a high social and ecological price. We must find new sustainable solutions. This will require innovation, collaboration, and new partnerships. In the episode I am joined by Olaf van Tunen from Van Stijn Rijnwoude, Friso Kuperus from Pure Vision, Tijmen Hennekes from FSC Netherlands and Gao Ya from FSC International. The episode was sponsored by Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (https://www.fpa2.org)
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Episode 64: Getting rid of the bad apples – FSCs work on risk based interventions
15.09.2023 In this episode we talk about risk or more specifically how FSC is increasingly transitioning toward being a risk-based system. This means diving deeper into, how we in FSC are developing a system, where we evaluate the risk profile of a certificate holders and present them to with differentiated requirements for auditing, based on whether they are high risk or low risk. What does that mean, how far along is the thinking on this and how would this work? Those are some of the questions that I have today for my two guests, Marc Jessel, Chief Systems integrity officer at FSC, and Elena Tveritinove, interim program manager for Supply Chain integrity at FSC.
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Episode 63: 1 + 1 = 11 – Partnerships as a catalyst for change
30.08.2023 This episode is on partnerships – good partnerships, bad partnerships, failed partnerships and those tough partnerships, that might just surprise you. I’ve invited three people to have a conversation with me on this. Mette Boye, Conservation Director, WWF World Wildlife Fund in Denmark, Ulf Johansson, Head of Global Wood Supply & Forestry, IKEA and Kim Carstensen, CEO of FSC International. All of them have heaps of experience with partnerships. We are going to talk about how you know who to work with and who not, how partnerships evolve and what their biggest concerns are for partnerships moving forward. The audio for this episode was recorded live during the international world congress for architects UIA23, at the FSC Lounge supported by EU Life programme. (EU-Life / LIFE20/GIE/NL/001073)
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Episode 62: Solutionists – how business can fix the future
04.07.2023 In this episode we dive deep into how we leverage the power of each and everyone of us to halt climate change, the biodiversity crises, the social divide and injustice. We only have seven years left before we hit the targets in the Paris Agreement and many of the magical timelines set by companies worldwide. But we can do! That is at least the encouragement from the guest in this episode, Solitaire Townsend, who has just released the book “Solutionists – how businesses can fix the future”. Solitaire is co-founder of the global and award-winning sustainability agency Futerra and works with clients in the big league – such as IKEA, Google, United Nations and Lancome – and she is now offering all of her learnings in a “how-to” book, that helps all of us becoming more actionable on the high hairy topics.
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Episode 61: FSC in Ukraine: Providing meaning and value – a status 1,5 years into the war
27.06.2023 In this episode we return to Ukraine one and a half year after the invasion and for the first time we will hear from our team on the ground and from some of the certificate holders. They will share their stories and enlighten us on, why a thing like maintaining FSC can be important even when you live in a country under attack from foreign invasion. During our conversation we covered topics as broad as what changes in everyday work life the war has required, why FSC for many businesses and forest owners is more important than ever, how integrity is maintained and why it is so crucial that we maintain our business with Ukrainian companies. To help me learn more, I invited Pavlo Kravets, Director of FSC Ukraine, Yevhenii Khan, Chain of Custody and integrity manager at FSC Ukraine, Viktoria Kuchmuk, Manager of Zunami LLC - an FSC-certified working company producing oak floors and Natalia Pokinska, Managing Director at Kronospan UA LLC – the largest wood-based panels-producing company in the country.
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Episode 60: FSC Check – how FSC will use risk evaluation as part of the certification process
20.06.2023 In this episode we dive deep into the world of safeguarding FSCs integrity and ensuring that the businesses and organisations around the world working with FSC are the good guys. In a world where sustainable transformation is the norm and prerequisite for many business transactions and license to operate, getting certified by FSC is increasingly attractive to companies around the world. This is a positive thing. But it also means that some might want to join FSC, who do not necessarily fit the profile of companies, we want to work with. They might be deforesting forest areas in other parts of their business or violating human or workers’ rights. Destructive activities such as these are a part of a longer list of actions that are in the FSC system called “unacceptable activities”. Today we are going to talk about a new tool in FSC, which will help us identify the if a company that wants to get certified, or an applicant member has been involved in an unacceptable activity or not, based on which FSC will allow them to enter the FSC system or reject their application. To help me understand more, I’ve invited Saija Hotti, Program Manager for Operations and Development at FSC.
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Episode 59: The global perspective on EUDR, Getting granular on EUDR (episode 3 of 3)
17.05.2023 This episode is 3 of 3 recorded live at the FSC event Wood you find it in Brussels on April 25th 2023. At the event EU policymakers, NGOs, companies, voluntary sustainability standards, representatives from producing countries, EU Competent Authorities, the forest sector, and journalists met to learn, discover, debate and imagine together a world in which we know exactly where every piece of wood comes from. The event was built around a brand new piece of EU legislation: the European deforestation regulation (EUDR). The focus was on how EUDR and its geo-location requirement can play a role in the wood sector taking into account the environmental, economic, social dimension of the matter, both in Europe and globally. In this last episode we will be looking into what the legislation looks like from the other side of the table – from the producing countries who will need to support European buyers with their compliance to the legislation. We will be hearing from Alexandra Benjamin, FERN, Chantal Marijnissen, EU Commission, Gert van der Bijl, Solidaridad & Escipion Joaquin Oliveira Gomez, OACPS. And we will get closing remarks from Kim Carstensen, CEO of FSC.
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Episode 58: How might we use existing technologies to comply? (Getting granular on EUDR, episode 2 of 3)
17.05.2023 This episode is 2 of 3 recorded live at the FSC event Wood you find it in Brussels on April 25th 2023. At the event EU policymakers, NGOs, companies, voluntary sustainability standards, representatives from producing countries, EU Competent Authorities, the forest sector, and journalists met to learn, discover, debate and imagine together a world in which we know exactly where every piece of wood comes from. The event was built around a brand new piece of EU legislation: the European deforestation regulation (EUDR). The focus was on how EUDR and its geo-location requirement can play a role in the wood sector taking into account the environmental, economic, social dimension of the matter, both in Europe and globally. In this second episode we will diving into how existing technologies can be used to enable companies to comply and featured expert input from Jade Saunders, World Forest ID, Joanna Nowakowska, FSC, Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, WWF EPO, Annie Adams, Kingfisher & Irene Rodríguez, Senior Manager, Planet. The session was moderated by Mariam Zaidi and of course included a lot of questions from the audience.
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Episode 57: Setting the scene – Why requirements on geo location? Getting granular on EUDR (episode 1 of 3)
04.05.2023 This episode is 1 of 3 recorded live at the FSC event Wood you find it in Brussels on April 25th 2023. At the event EU policymakers, NGOs, companies, voluntary sustainability standards, representatives from producing countries, EU Competent Authorities, the forest sector, and journalists met to learn, discover, debate and imagine together a world in which we know exactly where every piece of wood comes from. The event was built around a brand new piece of EU legislation: the European deforestation regulation (EUDR). The focus was on how EUDR and its geo-location requirement can play a role in the wood sector taking into account the environmental, economic, social dimension of the matter, both in Europe and globally. In this first episode we will be setting the scene about EUDR by hearing from the EU commission itself, via Astrid Ladefoged, Head of Unit F1, Planetary Common Goods, Universal Values & Environmental Security, EU Commission, DG ENV and from FSCs CIO, Michael Marus. The session was moderated by Mariam Zaidi and of course included a lot of questions from the audience.
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Episode 56: Revising standard in an agile and engaging way – how?
09.02.2023 FSC is fundamentally changing the way that we develop and revise standards to make our system more agile and put less burden on our stakeholders. But how do you pull that off while at the same time safeguarding engagement and integrity in the standard setting process? That is the topic of this episode of Forest for the Future! And to help me learn much more, I’ve invited three expert colleagues from FSCs Performance and Standards Unit: Joanna Nowakowska, FSC Systems Performance Director, Stefan Salvador, the director of Policy Operations and Dorothee Jung, Program manager for the FSC Systems Performance.
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Episode 55: Measuring everything that we can see. Getting to forest specific impact data in FSC
02.02.2023 Did you ever dream of specific information of the impact of FSC on the specific forest you source from or invest in? In this podcast we dive into the key questions to bring that dream into reality. Will this level of information ever be possible? What is possible today? What is needed to get us there? Getting to impact data from specific forest areas requires frequent data and systems to help process the information, make it tangible and pass it on to the relevant stakeholders. But can FSC ever get to a point where that kind of data is possible and what would it take? That is the topic of this podcast. And to help me learn more about what is up and down, I’ve invited Scot McQueen, FSC Senior Technology officer, Asger Olesen, Chief Climate and Ecosystem Services Officer, Tara O'Shea, Senior director for Forest and Land use at planet, and William Moseley, Customer Success Manager focused on commercial forestry.
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Episode 54: One step at a time, FSCs new solution for community and family forests
16.01.2023 Finally it is here: A stepwise approach into certification for community and family forest owners. It is the world of FSC called the Continuous improvement Procedure and this episode is dedicated to learning much more about it. It is a concept that has been debated in FSC for more than 20 years. But was the concept worth the long wait, what took it so long and what does it mean in practice? To enlighten me on the topic I’ve invited two of the people who have had central roles in making the concept into reality; Vera Santos, our program manager for Community and Family forests and Jens Kanstrup, Senior advisor at the environmental NGO Forest of the World.
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Episode 53: There are rules, and then there are rules! FSC and legislation compliance
15.12.2022 In this episode we dive deep into how FSC and legislation compliance fits together – and how much it should. During the last years we have – finally some might say – seen legislators increasingly develop and pass rule sets to safeguard forests, consumer interests and mitigate climate change. But what happens to a voluntary system like FSC, when these legislations get adopted and there is a gap between what the rules of law require and how we do things – do we adjust to fit? That is the topic of this podcast, made perhaps more relevant than ever by the upcoming legislation European Deforest Regulation – or EUDR. And to help me learn more about what is up and down, I’ve invited Kim Carstensen, our CEO and Anand Punja, our Chief Engagement and Parterships Officer. Please note that this episode does not contain detailed information on how FSC will support certificate holders with EUDR compliance. The reason for that is very simple: The legislative text has yet to be finalized. And as a result, we cannot yet communicate how and when FSC will support. Once the text is finalized, we will do a full episode, which will be tangible.
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Episode 52: It is a wrap! Take aways from the FSC 2022 General Assembly
12.08.2022 If there is one reoccurring event, which enables FSC to take giant leaps in development, it is the FSC General Assemblies where our members guide the directions they would like to see FSC develop in. In October 2022 the FSC General Assembly was held in Bali, Indonesia, and in this episode we summarize the main take aways from the FSC Board of Directors – what made them smile, discuss, worry? What was their main learnings? And what were the major decisions made? To help me get closer to the answers, I’ve invited Ivone Namikawa, representing the Economic chamber, Per Larsson, representing the Environmental chamber, and Zandra Martinez, representing the social chamber. This episode was bought to you by the main sponsors of the FSC General Assembly SIG, Arauco and National Wildlife Federation.
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Episode 51: Getting to scale on biodiversity monitoring - eDNA as a new tool?
22.11.2022 In this episode we dive into eDNA! What is it and how could it help FSC monitor our true impact on the ground? It is a nerdy topic but also a very interesting one and one with huge potential. Don’t know what it is? Don’t worry – I hardly didn’t either before my interview for this podcast! But luckily Franck Trolliet is happy to explain it to us. Franck is the manager for Monitoring and Evaluation in FSC, and in short that means that he is helping reinvent how FSC might get better at proving our impact and monitoring our effect on the ground.
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Episode 50: How can we compensate past harm? FSC on remedy and restoration, featuring Salem Jones, Jessica Surma and Kim Carstensen
07.11.2022 In this episode we dive into how FSC might play a role in providing remedy to people and nature harmed and how FSC through the process can open for certification of areas converted after 1994. This is one of the innovations in FSC, which has been difficult to find alignment on across our stakeholders, and which still is leading to a lot of questions and debate. To help me learn much more about remedy, remedy processes and restoration of destroyed areas, I’ve invited three key figures from within FSC. Kim Carstensen, our CEO. Salem Jones, our program manager for disputes and Jessica Surma, who is our policy manager for Forest Management.
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Episode 49: Future forests – a conversation with IKEA and World Forest ID
17.10.2022 What is the role of data and technology in safeguarding the forest on our globe? And what is the responsibility of companies the size of IKEA? In this episode of Forest for the Future we feature an interview with IKEA and World Forest ID. The interview as recorded live during the event Future Forests held by SPACE10 in Copenhagen. In the episode you will hear from Phil Guillery, director of World Forest ID and Ulf Johansson, leader of IKEA global Wood Supply & Forestry team. It turned into an interesting conversation covering topics as broad as supply chain integrity, the role of companies the size of IKEA to ensure just transition in this world, recycled timber use, data and technologies and much more. SPACE10 is a research and design lab, fully funded by and dedicated to IKEA. They are on a mission to create a better everyday life for people and the planet. In their latest exploration, they focused on how technology can support the forests of tomorrow.
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Episode 48: Value creation : How can FSC help deliver on the SDGs?
05.10.2022 FSC General assembly edition: How can FSC be used as a tool to deliver on the sustainable development goals – or the SDGs as they are often referred? More specifically what is the value that FSC brings and how might FSC and other global frameworks like the sustainable development goals complement each other? You will hear from three different voices in this podcast: Anakarina Perez, Strategic Advisor & Global Advocacy Lead at FSC International, Felix Romero, Director General de Medio Natural y Biodiversidad, and Udo Felden, Manager Global Environmental Affairs at SIG Combibloc. The episode is the third in a series of three episodes, where we zoom in on the topics to be discussed and found solutions for at the upcoming FSC general assembly in Bali, Indonesia October 9th – 14th. The episodes are bought to you by the main sponsors of the FSC General Assembly SIG and Arauco.
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Episode 47: Why people are important if we want to build lasting forest solutions
26.09.2022 FSC General assembly edition: What is the role of people and people’s rights when we build resilient forests? And how might we learn more from each other when wanting to shape solutions for our forests as we move forward in our fight against climate change and the biodiversity crisis? You will hear from four different voices in this podcast, Anand Punja, Chief engagement, and partnership officer at FSC International, Vera Santos, program manager for community and family forests in FSC, Rulita Wijayaningdyah, an FSC member and union representative in Indonesia and Anders Blom, representative of the Sami People and member of FSC. The episode is the second in a series of three episodes, where we zoom in on the topics to be discussed and found solutions for at the upcoming FSC general assembly in Bali, Indonesia October 9th – 14th. The episodes are bought to you by the main sponsors of the FSC General Assembly SIG and Arauco.
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Episode 46: Scaling up forest-based solutions to climate change with investments
19.09.2022 FSC General assembly edition: In this episode we focus on how forest-based solutions like carbon storage and biodiversity protection can be one of our actions to mitigate climate change. But for it to make an impact, it needs to scale, and it needs to scale fast! To educate me on how climate investments work from forest to market I have invited a panelist of players from the entire value chain. Juan Anzieta from Arauco representing a forest owner, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Aybar from the Shared Wood Company representing the investors and Rhyannon Galea from Southpole representing the project developers. We also have Pina Gervassi from FSC International, who links all of this to the work that FSC is doing and explains how FSC hopes to be an enabler for impactful and verifiable climate investments in the future. The episode is the first in a series of three episodes, where we zoom in on the topics to be discussed and found solutions for at the upcoming FSC general assembly in Bali, Indonesia October 9th – 14th. The episodes are bought to you by the main sponsors of the FSC General Assembly SIG and Arauco.
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Episode 45: Warming up to the FSC general assembly 2022, featuring Kim Carstensen, FSC CEO and Zandra Martinez, FSC board chair
01.09.2022 Members edition: This special members edition is warming us all up to one of the major events in the world of FSC: The FSC General Assembly. For the first time since 2017, the FSC general assembly is happening in person. It is being held in mid-October and I am looking forward to it like a child looking forward to Christmas! But why am I so excited? In this episode I will try to take you into the world of general assemblies and hopefully make you so excited, you want to participate too! Let’s start with the beginning: what is general assemblies in FSC and why are they so important? I’ve asked Kim Carstensen, FSC CEO and Zandra Martinez, the chairman of the FSC board to explain.
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Episode 44: CSR 3.0 – what is it? And is it any good? featuring Etienne White, Let’s create possible
22.08.2022 What is the role of collective action as we move into CSR 3.0? That is the core of the conversation I have with Etienne White from Let’s Create Possible in this episode of Forest for the Future. CSR has moved from compliance to zero impact and is now transitioning into a phase of giving back. What does that mean for companies wanting to work with deeply CSR and for their brand positioning? We will cover topics as broad as collective heroism, circularity, storytelling, climate action and how we might in the global north learn a lot from companies and governments in the global south.
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Episode 43: Fashion inside out – FSCs engagement in the Fashion industry, featuring Loa Worm and Ewa Hermanowicz
22.07.2022 What does FSC have to do with fashion and the sustainable transition of the fashion industry? That is what this special episode of Forest for the Future focuses on. The episode is called inside out because in this episode, your regular host Loa Worm has been placed on the other side of the table and is being interviewed by Ewa Hermanowicz. The episode will explain what FSC is doing in the fashion industry, and why forests play a role in the fashion industry. It will also take you to the Global Fashion Summit held in Copenhagen in June 2022. And it will give you insights on what other industries could learn from the fashion industry when it comes to sustainable transition – and where the fashion industry is choosing not to talk about the elephants in the room, when they ought to.
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Episode 42: Using the power of value chains to engage rubber producing smallholders, Interview with Sean Nyquist, FSC Value Chain Development
08.07.2022 How can FSC help establish market access and maintain a market for 6 millions smallholders producing natural rubber, especially in south east Asia, Western Africa and Latin America? FSC has a mission to vastly increase the number of owners of small pieces of land – or smallholders in FSC terminology - worldwide working with FSC. Our own work on value chain development will be instrumental in reaching this goal, as well collaboration with other organisations, NGOs and brands. In this newest episode of Forest for the Future I’ve invited Sean Nyquist, Value Chain Development Officer for natural rubber at FSC, to join me online for a chat on what that actually means and why it the chosen method of FSC.
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Episode 41: First round of blockchain implementation – what did we learn and where do we go? Interview with Michael Marus and Julie Smith, FSC
08.04.2022. What is the status of the FSC blockchain pilot? In this episode we return to one of our most popular topics: the FSC blockchain application pilot. The first pilot of the blockchain with certified companies from China and Ukraine have now been concluded. We will talk about what we’ve then learned from the live test and what the next steps are in both the short and the medium term. To help me answer these questions, I invited FSC CIO Michael Marus and senior project coordinator Julie Smith. If this is the first time you hear about the FSC Blockchain, we encourage you to listen to episode 4 and 19 of this podcast first, as they contain the background for the project.
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Episode 40: Ready. Set. Go! How implementing standardised metadata will increase the value of our data, interview with Michael Marus, FSC and Patrick Mallet, ISEAL
24.03.2022. After a few years under development and implementation the ISEAL Core Metadata set is now ready for broad implementation in the sustainability community. I therefore invited Michael Marus, FSC Chief Information Officer and Director of IT, and Patrick Mallet, ISEAL Director of Innovations, back on the podcast to give us an update. Why is it so important that we standardize our metadata and what do we stand to gain as individual organizations and as a sustainability community? In this episode we get hands on in how to start an implementation process and what the benefit could be. If you are interested in learning more about the ISEAL Core Metadata set and the project behind it, episode 18 is the first episode on the project and gives insight into the background and work behind it. The ISEAL Core Metadata Set was funded by ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO (https://www.seco-cooperation.admin.ch/secocoop/en/home.html)
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Episode 39: Protecting forests and people in times of war, interview with Kim Carstensen, Lieske Van Santen and Marc Jessel, FSC
10.03.2022. In this episode of Forest for the Future we cover the most difficult topic, we have ever talked about on the podcast; the recent military invasion by Russia on Ukraine and how FSC as a voluntary system act when faced with such violent actions by a government on the people of another country. On Tuesday March 8th 2022 FSC communicated our decision to suspend all trading certificates in Russia and Belarus, so no product from either countries can be sold with FSC claims after April 8th 2022. Forest management certificates in Russia can remain valid but without the ability to trade. The decision was almost two weeks underway, and, in this episode, we will dive into why it was such a difficult decision to make and what we expect the impact of it will be on both the people and forests; not only in the effected regions but also around the globe. To help me answer these difficult questions, I invited Kim Carstensen, FSC Director General, Marc Jessel, FSC System Integrity Director, and Lieske Van Santen, FSC Global Network Director.
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Episode 38: FSCs Technology wheel starting to spin, with Michael Marus, Marc Jessel and Scot McQueen, FSC International
16.02.2022. STATUS OF THE YEAR In this episode we will take stock of 2021 as a year through the lens of digitalization in FSC. We will talk about technology and our innovations within technology both as tools for engagement, increased system user-friendliness and for assurance measures. We will talk about blockchain, systems integrity performance, risk-based interventions, and the revision of FSC Policy of Association. We will talk about how FSC is evolving within geospatial tools. And then we will of course talk about how it all interconnects and what we can expect in 2022. I have invited Marc Jessel, FSCs Chief Systems Integrity Officer, Scot McQueen, FSC Senior Technology Officer and of course Michael Marus, FSC Chief Information Officer and Director of IT to get me up to speed.
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Episode 37: Code green for humanity ahead? An interview with Etienne White, President for Brands for Good
28.01.2022. The latest IPPC Report warned us: This is a code red and we need to get our act together now as human kind, if we want to stop climate change from spiraling out of control. Did this warning wake up the corporate world and what are we doing to transition in time? In this brand new episode of Forest for the Future I talk to Etienne White, President for Brands for Good about the mega trends in the sustainability landscape.
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Episode 36: Providing proof of the origin of timber, an interview with Marc Jessel, Chief System Integrity Officer at FSC International
14.01.2022. How can wood identification technologies and more specifically systematic stable isotope testing help companies and the FSC system prove the origin of timber? That is the focus of this episode of Forest for the Future, where we dive into stable isotope testing and how FSC is going pilot the use of the technique to build an iso archive.
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Episode 35: Pivoting on digital audit reporting – an update interview with Steve Ball and Joanna Nowakowska, FSC International
08.12.2021. FSCs transition to digital audit reporting and the roll out of a new standardized audit reporting template will make us able to identify risk, see trends and patterns, that we couldn’t before – and of course in the longer term make us be able to aggregate that data into global datasets that can help us prove the actual impact of FSC.
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Episode 34: Will consumers be driving the action? Featuring Procter & Gamble, Hunter Boots, GlobeScan and FSC
02.12.2021. What does consumers expect from brands and FSC when it comes to sustainability and do they care? That is the focus of this episode of Forest for the Future, where we hear from GlobeScan, Procter & Gamble, Hunter Boots and of course FSC!
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Episode 33: FSC Members edition – Day 5 highlights of the FSC General Assembly 2021 with Kim Carstensen, CEO
MEMBERS EDITION The FSC International General Assembly 2021 is being held in a virtual setting. In this short podcast format, we provide members and stakeholders of FSC a short daily recap of what happened during the day and what to look out for tomorrow. The podcast also contains an introduction to the side meetings held during the day. This episode covers Day 5, Friday 29, 2021
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Episode 32: FSC Members edition – Day 4 highlights of the FSC General Assembly 2021 with Kim Carstensen, CEO
MEMBERS EDITION The FSC International General Assembly 2021 is being held in a virtual setting. In this short podcast format, we provide members and stakeholders of FSC a short daily recap of what happened during the day and what to look out for tomorrow. The podcast also contains an introduction to the side meetings held during the day. This episode covers Day 4, Thursday 28, 2021
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Episode 31: FSC Members edition – Day 3 highlights of the FSC General Assembly 2021 with Kim Carstensen, CEO
MEMBERS EDITION The FSC International General Assembly 2021 is being held in a virtual setting. In this short podcast format, we provide members and stakeholders of FSC a short daily recap of what happened during the day and what to look out for tomorrow. The podcast also contains an introduction to the side meetings held during the day. This episode covers Day 3, Wednesday October 27, 2021 If you are interested in M20 on Climate Action, we encourage you to listen to Episode 27 of this podcast series as well, where the topic is covered in a full episode.
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Episode 30: FSC Members edition – Day 2 highlights of the FSC General Assembly 2021 with Kim Carstensen, CEO
MEMBERS EDITION The FSC International General Assembly 2021 is being held in a virtual setting. In this short podcast format, we provide members and stakeholders of FSC a short daily recap of what happened during the day and what to look out for tomorrow. The podcast also contains an introduction to the side meetings held during the day. This episode covers Day 2, Tuesday October 26, 2021
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Episode 29: FSC Members edition – Day 1 recap of the FSC General Assembly 2021 with Kim Carstensen, CEO
MEMBERS EDITION The FSC International General Assembly 2021 is being held in a virtual setting. In this short podcast format, we provide members and stakeholders of FSC a short daily recap of what happened during the day and what to look out for tomorrow. The podcast also contains an introduction to the side meetings held during the day. This episode covers Day 1, Monday October 25, 2021
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Episode 28: FSC members edition: More digital technology in FSC? A discussion with members Seth Zuckerman, Melissa Graham and Gerrit Marias on Motion 61 and Motion 57 prior to the FSC General Assembly 2021
FSC MEMBERS EDITION: From October 25th to 29th FSC will host its international general assembly and in this episode of Forest for the Future we hand the mic to two members of FSC to explain their motions proposed for the upcoming event - and to another member, who have some worries about the changes being proposed. In other words : this episode will show FSC membership democracy in action! More specifically we will talk about the use of technology in FSC and how it can help improve credibility and transparency in FSC, while reducing cost. The conversation is based on motion 61 in which Seth Zuckerman suggests that it should be mandatory for FSC forest management certificate holders to supply GIS boundary data files. And on motion 57 in which Melissa Graham suggests to make remote auditing a permanent option in a risk based approach. Both motions are discussed with Gerrit Marais, long-term FSC auditor and forest manager, who has some concerns.
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Episode 27: FSC members edition: FSC needs to take climate action now! A discussion with members Alan Smith and Mike Bekin on motion 48 and 20 prior to the FSC General Assembly 2021.
FSC MEMBERS EDITION: From October 25th to 29th FSC will host its international general assembly and in this episode of Forest for the Future we hand the mic to two members of FSC to explain their motions proposed for the upcoming event. More specifically we will talk about FSCs contribution to the climate emergency. And we will dive into how we can use ecosystem services certification in an attempt to become more relevant on the climate agenda. The conversation is based on motion 20 and motion 48, in which Alan Smith and Mike Bekin ask FSC to do more, do better and do it faster! If you are interested in learning more about what FSC is already doing on climate change and ecosystem services, much more can be found in episode #26 with Pina Gervassi and Asger Olesen, where they explain actions already taken by FSC and what is in the plans for the upcoming years.
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Episode 26: New roadmap to bring climate action front and center in FSC, Interview with Pina Gervassi, Climate and Restoration Engagement director and Asger Olesen, Chief Climate and Ecosystem Services Officer.
19.10.2021. In this episode of Forest for the Future we talk about climate action and what FSC is doing to become more relevant in the climate agenda. Taking action on climate can be quite difficult – because how do we know that what we are doing actually has the effect that we are looking for and that we will be able to do enough in time.
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Episode 25: Taking a stand for workers rights, interview on the implementation of core workers rights in FSC with William Cook, CW/CoC Policy Officer and Vicky Tran, CW/CoC Policy Manager at FSC
14.09.2021. On 1. September 2021 FSC made it obligatory for all FSC certified companies around the world to ensure and prove that they adhere to the core ILO conventions, which aim to remove all forced and child labor, address discrimination and ensure that everyone everywhere has freedom of association and collective bargain rights. This new requirement affects +77.000 companies around the world covered by a FSC chain of custody certificate.
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Episode 24: Maintaining engagement in a pandemic, interview with Kim Carstensen, Guillermina Garza and Michael Marus, FSC
23.08.2021. Without a general assembly there wouldn't be an FSC. It is the most important thing in the DNA of the organization. It's where our members come together. They meet each other. They understand each other. They discuss with each other. They decide what we do. And without this decision-making on who we are, what we do, we wouldn't be FSC. What then happens when a pandemic forces you to replace in-person dialogue with even more screen time?
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Episode 23: Making the simple the strongest, an interview with Marc Jessel, FSC Chief System Integrity Officer
18.08.2021. In this episode I have a conversation with Marc Jessel, the Chief System Integrity Officer, who joined FSC in 2021. Our conversation covers what our next big focus areas in integrity are, how they all interconnect and what it will mean for stakeholders.
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Episode 22: Getting up to speed on Ecosystem services with Asger Olesen, FSC Chief Climate and Ecosystem Services Officer
11.08.2021. In this episode we dive into ecosystem services and give room for a basic introduction. What is it? What is FSC doing on it? How does it connect to nature based solutions? And how does what FSC is doing connect to what the rest of the world is doing?
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Episode 18: What keeps the FSC International Board up at night? An interview with the members of the FSC International Board Strategic Planning Committee
08.04.2021. This episode focuses on the new FSC Global Strategy as a whole and features an interview with the members of the FSC International Board Strategic Planning Committee, Alan Thorne, Mauro Armelin and Zandra Martinez. The episode dives into questions like - what is the evolvement since the last strategy?
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Episode 21: Free, Prior and Informed Consent – the Canadian way with Pamela Perreault, Director, The Firelight Group and Francois Dufresne, President of FSC Canada
02.07.2021. In this episode we dive into the topic of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). In short FPIC is a requirement to ensure, that indigenous peoples are not only informed about management on their lands but also consent to that management prior to it being conducted.
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Episode 20: Making data from the ground a reality – an interview with Joanna Nowakowska, Deputy Director, FSC Technology and Information Unit
01.06.2021. What is the status of the roll out of FSC Digital Audit Reporting? That is the focus of this episode of Forest for the Future. FSC Digital Audit reporting was released in a pilot version in October 2020. The project will for the first time bring all FSC audit reports into one structured unified format.
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Episode 19: How blockchain can help FSC - Interview with CIO Michael Marus
10.05.2021. What is the status of the FSC blockchain pilot? That is the focus of this episode of Forest for the Future, where we talk to FSC CIO Michael Marus and dive deep into the beta pilot, that has just launched.
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Episode 17: A FSC relevant for communities, smallholders and Indigenous Peoples with Vera Santos, New Approaches Program Manager and Francisco Souza, Managing Director, FSC Indigenous Foundation
04.03.2021. This episode focus on smallholders, communities and indigenous peoples and their role of in the new FSC Global Strategy. The episode also concludes our mini series on the FSC Global Strategy.
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Episode 14: Co-creating solutions for the World’s forests. FSCs Global Strategy 2021 – 2026
21.01.2021. In this episode, we continue our small series of three podcasts, which is focus on the newly launched FSC Global Strategy 2021 – 2026. In this second episode we focus on the concept of co-creation as an essential part of the strategy. But what is co-creation?
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Episode 16: New ways to find common ground. Landscape approaches in FSC with Gemma Boetekees, FSC Stakeholder Solutions Director and Claude Garcia, Senior Scientist at ETHZ and CIRAD
10.02.2021. In this episode we are going to look beyond FSC and certification for forest areas. We are going to look at the concept of landscape approaches and how we as FSC can help facilitate a holistic approach to management of landscapes across interests and stakeholders.
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Episode 15: Auditing from the sky. The launch of FSC GIS Portal. Interview with Andres Ramirez, FSC GIS officer
01.02.2021. In this episode we return to the FSC GIS Portal, which is being launched the same day as the podcast episode releases. In an interview with Andres Ramirez, FSC GIS officer, we dive deep into what the GIS portal can do, who can use it, how it will help innovate auditing processes and what next features are envisioned.
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Episode 13: Utilizing data and technology to accelerate growth and impact. FSCs global strategy 2021 – 2026
22.12.2020. In this episode, we start a small series of three podcasts, which is focus on the newly launched FSC Global Strategy 2021 – 2026. In the first episode we will focus on how FSC will utilize data and technology as prominent tools in delivering our strategy of accelerating our impact and increase the coverage of FSC certified area dramatically.
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Episode 12: FSC and climate mitigation. Interview with Climate Director Pina Gervassi
30.11.2020. In this episode we will talk to Pina Giavassi, the FSC climate director. Because I wanted us to talk about something we all know is important – climate change and how we tackle it in time.
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Episode 11: Why FSC, ISEAL and the certification world need open data. Interview with Michael Marus, CIO and CTO of FSC International and Patrick Mallet, ISEAL Director of Innovations
05.10.2020. The internet is flooded with information, databases and portals. But how do we make use of the wealth of data, that we have access to, and how can working differently with our data help certifications schemes like FSC? That is the topic of this episode of Forest for the Future, which focuses on the concept of Open Data.
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Episode 10: Showing the impact of FSC and linking with the research community, interview with Evaluations and learnings officer Franck Troillet
11.09.2020. How do we make scientific research accessible for ourselves and our stakeholders? That is the focus of this episode featuring Franck Troillet, our Evaluations and learning officer. Franck will let you into his world of impact dashboards, research databases and scientific reporting.
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Episode 9: Making FSC relevant for smallholders and communities worldwide. Interview with Vera Santos, New Approaches Project Manager at FSC
25.08.20. Smallholders and community forests play a key role in combatting climate change but only a fraction of them are certified to FSC. What is FSC doing to change that fact and make our system more relevant to this very important group of forest owners? Vera will explain more about the solutions they are testing currently, like contractor certification, modular approach to certification and improvements to the group certification standard.
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Episode 8: Can wood samples help save our forests and improve due diligence? Interview with Roger Young, Agroisolab, and Phil Guillery, FSC
06.08.2020. How can gathering wood samples around the world help fight illegal logging and help companies perform due diligence? FSC is reinventing how wood samples can play a role in timber origin verification in a joint project of strong allies. In this episode we dive deep into the project called World Forest ID and learn much more about why the project is so innovative and what it might mean for the future of our forests worldwide.
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Episode 7: How does a certification scheme respond to disruption by a pandemic? Interview with Hans Joachim Droste, Chief Policy Officer at FSC
23.07.2020. The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to a lot of things moving around the globe – both humans and natural resources. How does a certification scheme like FSC respond to this kind of disruption? In this episode, I dive into these derogations along with our Chief Policy Officer Hans Joachim Droste and learn more what they contain, how they were informed and created and what we have learned from the disruption already.
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Episode 6: Members edition - how is FSC responding as an organization to the COVID-19 pandemic? Interview with CEO Kim Carstensen
09.07.2020. What has FSC done and is doing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic – both from an organizational point of view and as a certification scheme. How is FSC dealing with the challenges we are facing worldwide and what could we learn from the pandemic and the new situations we find ourselves in. Some of the content might be mostly relevant for members of FSC. But everyone is of course welcome to stay tuned and learn more.
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Episode 5 : The Good Code Hackaton. Interview with Caly Heasman from Docusign and Joanna Nowarowska from FSC
25.06.2020. In this episode of Forest for the Future we focus on an exciting event coming up: The Good Code Hackaton, which will run from July 7th to August 31st 2020. The hackaton is sponsored by Docusign and will help FSC address one of the immediate challenges, which we’ve been faced with: how do you perform audits in a place, that you cannot get to because of COVID-19?
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Episode 4: How blockchain can help FSC - Interview with CIO Michael Marus
02.06.2020. In this episode we will be looking at what FSC is doing with Blockchain and why. You will hear about what blockchain is, how it can be integrated into FSC, what the timelines are and how our blockchain integrates with all of the other blockchain pilots out there with our stakeholders.
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Episode 3: How standardized data can help improve standards and measure impact. Interviews with Joanna Nowakowska and Chong Sean Zheng
21.05.2020. In this episode we will be looking into how FSC is working to standardize the way information is captured from audit reports. This aim is to make the data more useful to both ourselves and all of our stakeholders. We will be asking Joanna Nowakowska and Sean Cheng, who are working on the project.
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Episode 2: How is GIS innovating FSC audits? Interviews with Joanna Nowarowska and Andrés Felipe Ramírez
07.05.2020. In this episode we will be looking into how FSC is utilizing GIS tools to innovate the way audits are being informed and even performed. We will be diving into how GIS based tools can help FSC provide digital solutions to the new challenges we are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because how does a certification system like FSC function, if auditors can’t travel and get on the ground? GIS based verification may be part of the answer.
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Episode 1: Why should FSC digitalize? Interviews with Kim Carstensen, CEO, and Michael Marus, CIO
17.04.2020. Why is it so important that FSC invests in digital? Can tech tools really protect forests? And how will new tools impact current and future FSC certificate holders, retailers, NGOs, governments, researchers and consumers? That’s what we will ask the director of FSC Kim Carstensen and the CIO of FSC Michael Marus in this first episode of Forest for the future.
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FSC Showcases
People fixing the world: the tree detectives tackling illegal logging
We visit the wood archive at Kew Gardens and speak to experts using this technology to help stem the flow of illegally-smuggled timber and protect the planet’s endangered forests.
The sustainable use of timber in construction
Panel discussion: FSC Project Certification assures your use of guilt-free materials, knowing they came from well-managed forests. Get your project certified, ensuring a lower carbon footprint, helping to fight climate change. Chair: Hattie Hartman, Sustainability Editor for the Architects’ Journal. Panel members: Jeremy Harrison, Forest Stewardship Council; Misak Terzibasiyan, UAArchitects; Giacomo Garziano, GGLoop Amsterdam.
The forest fibre potential for the apparel sector
Andrés Ortolano, FSC Italy chain of custody manager, and Ruth Farrell, textiles marketing director at Eastman Naia, debate how and why the apparel sector is sourcing increasing amounts of wood-based fibre. There are clear supply risks, and they discuss what brands can do to ensure that their suppliers are environmentally sustainable.