Irving Pulp & Paper (IPP) has been given permission to begin construction immediately of an Environmental Treatment Facility and Water Use Reduction Project at Saint John’s mill following a successful Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). After receiving the Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s Certificate of Determination in accordance with the EIA, IPP will break ground on the project which is estimated to cut the mill's water consumption by up to 50 percent and result in cleaner water leaving the mill. Construction will require 60 contractor jobs averaged over the 2-2.5-year period with peaks of 120 local contractors. Construction and installation of the new equipment is expected to generate 609,000 person-hours of work over an estimated 22 months in New Brunswick. Construction will begin immediately and run until late 2024.

The 22nd PEFC General Assembly closed with voices from the future, as countries actively developing national forest certification systems took to the floor. As has become the tradition during our General Assembly, representatives from countries that have or are not yet PEFC members were invited to speak. This year Croatia, Kenya, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam all seized the opportunity to share their views. “We are in the process of developing and formulating forest certification in the Philippines,” said Dr. Priscila Dolom, University of the Philippines. “We started in 2014 and have since formed our interim national governing body.” “A technical working group has crafted a forest certification standard and we’re working on a chain of custody standard based on PEFC requirements.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Stakeholders from around the world are invited to give feedback on the Spanish Forest Certification System. Deadline for comments is 3 May. Give your feedback. PEFC Spain revised the country’s national forest certification system to ensure its forest management standard is up-to-date and continues to meet stakeholder demands and expectations. The Spanish system was submitted to PEFC after being revised in line with PEFC requirements. The system is now undergoing the PEFC assessment process, carried out by an independent PEFC Registered Assessor. It must pass this assessment to maintain its PEFC endorsement. An important aspect of the assessment process is the public consultation. Over the sixty-day consultation, stakeholders from around the world can give their comments and provide feedback on any aspect of the system. The Registered Assessor will use the information received from this consultation in their assessment of the system.