Great letter, Ara!
One additional aspect I would offer up for the vision for this collaboration is a commitment to continuous improvement, in all regions and jurisdictions. I think it is important that we don’t get bogged down in “whataboutisms” or settling for the status quo, anywhere.
In my experiences with industry and non-industry forestland managers, as well as with conscientious wood buyers, there is almost universally an intensely-felt commitment to learning to do better and doing right by the land.
This personal motivation and commitment by those who know and manage lands is often diluted or obscured when those who administer, finance, or lobby for the business side get more concerned with perceived risks. I think this is a necessary and unavoidable tension with competitive businesses, but shouldn’t be allowed to cross over into anti-competitive obfuscation that entrenches systems that prevent high-performing land owners, managers, and forest product firms from distinguishing themselves in the market. Perhaps easier said than done.
My main takeaway is the we need the forest sector to accept and adapt to the transparency that modern earth observation and supply chain traceability systems permit to help markets for forest products identify and reward suppliers who are responding well to the values held by their consumers.
Industry-wide and region-wide average reporting across diverse suppliers is no longer a sufficient response to the market demand for climate-smart forest products. Just as other materials sectors have begun to compete internally for market share among green buyers by improving their sustainability outcomes and reporting indicators buyers care about (such as embodied carbon), forest product suppliers can and should step out from behind blanket lobbying and marketing by commodity commissions and be encouraged to say “Sure, wood is good. But our wood is better. Here’s why…”
Several firms already offer extensive sustainability reporting on a regular basis. I think we would be well-positioned to a spotlight illustrative examples of excellence in reporting, in achieving sustainability impacts beyond common practice, and in impact assessment methods.
Instead of focusing on building a hurried and elusive consensus picking horses, I personally feel like our time as a collaborative group will be better spent elevating the basic need and good practice approaches for judging horse races.
David
David Diaz | Director of Forestry Technology & Analytics | Ecotrust
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