The consultation is to get an indication of the support for and interest in such an instrument, and any possible concerns among FSC members and stakeholders. The procedure would be for voluntary use by certificate holders and only be mandatory when a certificate holder is making a claim about the carbon footprint of an FSC-labelled product.
Carbon footprinting is likely to become an important tool to reduce the climate impacts of production and consumption patterns worldwide. It is already required for biomass energy as part of national renewable energy promotion policies. It can also be relevant for other products, for example for decision-making on what construction materials to use, or what materials to use for producing furniture, packaging, etc. However, it is not a case of ‘all wood is good’ – it is important to distinguish wood originating from deforestation or badly managed forests from that originating from sustainably managed forests such as those certified by FSC. The FSC method would be unique in properly including the forest impacts of harvesting as part of a carbon footprint of a product, resulting in more accurate information to support sound policies and decisions.
The procedure will be linked to the FSC Chain of Custody Standard and will build upon the framework currently being developed on the impact of forest stewardship on ecosystem services.
All information – including links to the survey, the consultation draft, and the comments form – can be found at: http://bit.ly/2ghpfdj.