We are delighted to announce that we have been appointed by leading forestry certification system PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) to execute a highly focussed international communications campaign.
The partnership will focus on raising awareness around sustainable forestry, biodiversity, and the role PEFC is playing in ensuring responsible forest management worldwide. The communications activity will be in collaboration with PEFC members and PEFC-certified forest owners and users.
Headquartered in Geneva, PEFC is an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation, which provides forest owners with PEFC certification as a tool to demonstrate their responsible practices, while empowering companies to buy sustainably. The PEFC label enables consumers to recognise products originating from a PEFC-certified forest – a forest managed in line with the strictest environmental, social, and economic requirements.
The PEFC Alliance is the world’s largest forest certification system with over 290 million hectares certified to PEFC standards – representing 75% of total certified forests. Responsible sourcing is enabled through a network of over 29,000 certified production sites. Organisations, buildings, and products such as Notre-Dame de Paris, the ABBA Arena, KFC, BabyLove nappies, and many others around the world are sourcing PEFC-certified material.
Our growing sustainability and corporate communications practices are developing a multi-sector thought leadership strategy that showcases PEFC’s expertise in forestry to engage businesses who are working towards making their forestry-related procurement measures more sustainable, in addition to stakeholders already associated with them.
We will also support in amplifying the stories of the people who collaborate with PEFC on a daily basis including forest workers, owners, and indigenous people.
Mimi Brown, Director of Corporate at The PHA Group, commented: “We are delighted to be working with PEFC in raising awareness about how critical forests are: most of the items we hold, things we wear, furniture we sit on and buildings we enter are traced back to forest resources. There are millions of people whose livelihoods and wellbeing depend on the forests they live and work in, and they support the supply chains of an incredibly diverse range of businesses worldwide. We want to amplify these stories and are excited to spearhead this strategic campaign by combining PHA’s corporate and sustainability expertise.”
Fabienne Sinclair, Head of Market Engagement at PEFC, commented: “Despite growing awareness, there is still considerable miscommunication and misunderstanding around sustainable forest management. Forests are essential to our daily lives; in the air we breathe and the lower carbon products we use and the health of the planet. Protecting them means using them, using them responsibly and sustainably. By combining our expertise with The PHA Group, we aim to amplify positive, fact-based stories and bring greater understanding to both the market and wider society.”