FSC® Germany celebrated this success with a two-day event in Hamburg on November 6th and 7th, 2023. Kinga Schabedly and Inga Leenders-Römling, the responsibles for the sustainability certification at our company, listened to the presentations and discussions and visited the Hamburg town hall and the Harburg city forest as part of the celebrations.
At the anniversary conference, a lively panel discussion followed insightful keynote speeches from the invited speakers. Under the title “Certification systems put to the test”, the speakers in the first thematic block highlighted the performance of current certification systems for environmental and social standards. The presentations and the subsequent discussion by Claudia Brück (Fairtrade Germany), Dr. Johanna Wurbs (Federal Environment Agency/Blue Angel), Michaela Schröder (Consumer Advice Center) and Olaf Dechow (Otto Group Purchasing) made it clear how important it is for these systems to work and be credible.
In the second block, the marketing of ecosystem services was discussed. Under the title “Greenwashing or Game Changer”, representatives from the city of Boppard, the WWF and FORLIANCE explained the benefits and importance of climate protection activities for the federal government and companies.
The subsequent evening reception of the Hamburg Senate took place in the beautiful town hall of the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. The city of Hamburg supported the development of the FSC® criteria early on and became the first state forestry company in Germany to join the FSC® in 1998.
In a celebratory atmosphere, Hamburg’s Senator Jens Kerstan (Environment, Climate and Energy) and Claudia Müller (Parliamentary State Secretary of the BMEL) underlined the importance of the FSC® in order to manage forests more sustainably step by step. Everyone here pursues the same goals for modern climate-adapted forestry. Uwe Bentlage, Chairman of the Board of FSC® Germany and Kim Carstensen, General Director of FSC® International, looked proudly at what the FSC® has already achieved and, despite the current challenges, took a positive look into the future.
The celebrations were rounded off on November 7th, 2023 with a 4-hour excursion through the first FSC®-certified forest in Germany. The city of Hamburg can be proud of its city forest.
These discussions and the exchange during this anniversary once again clearly showed us as market participants what challenges companies will face in the coming years. Especially to ensure that the goods that are brought onto the market actually come from sustainably managed and legal sources.