WVFA Mountain State Forestry Winter 2020-21

26 West Virginia Forestry Association Mountain State Forestry | Winter 2020-2021 www.wvfa.org S U S T A I N A B L E F O R E S T R Y I N I T I A T I V E Session 1 Responding to Consumers and Providing Better Choices for the Planet Bruce Anderson, Partner, Spark Advocacy and Chairman of Abacus Data, presented important consumer trends in forestry and sustainability. Environment, social, and governance trends featured prominently in his remarks, signaling growing interest in more sustainable product choices. “Companies have always wanted to avoid reputational risk, but I think now they are increasingly looking for ways to support solutions and achieve environmental upside,” Anderson said. “Sustainable forests and forest products from these forests are seen as part of the solution for a low-carbon economy of the future.” Anderson pointed to supporting research that shows 71% of consumers say using wood products is a good idea to combat climate change. Session 2 Standards Revision and the Impact of Label Statements Suzanne Shelton, President and CEO, Shelton Group, focused on why certifications matter more than ever and why brands should be promoting them. “Eighty-six percent of consumers expect companies to stand for something other than making money,” Shelton said. “Consumers, particularly millennials and Gen Z, have figured out they have power through how they spend their money.” She noted that third-party certifications are rising in importance as a top way consumers discover if a brand is green. Jason Metnick, Senior Vice President of Customer Affairs at SFI, encouraged people from SFI- certified organizations to feed data into the SFI-certified product database to help consumers find SFI-certified products and make sustainable purchases. He also updated attendees on SFI’s standard revision process, which will wrap up in 2021, with anticipated endorsement by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). The new standards will be available in January 2022. Companies have always wanted to avoid reputational risk, but I think now they are increasingly looking for ways to support solutions and achieve environmental upside.