The Forest Stewardship Council GmbH (FSC) is a German international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. This organization uses a market-based approach to transnational environmental policy.
FSC is a global forest certification system established for forests and forest products. According to the council, the use of the FSC logo signifies that a product comes from environmentally, socially, and economically responsible sources. In addition to its global certification standard, FSC develops national standards in selected countries. The FSC has 10 Principles and associated Criteria (FSC P&C) that form the basis for all FSC standards and certification.
FSC was established in 1993 as a response to concerns over global deforestation. It now has around 1200 members, including the World Wide Fund for Nature and IKEA.
History
Tropical deforestation as a global concern rose to prominence in the 1980s and can be attributed in part to environmentalists and northern countries advocating for the need to protect tropical woodland. A number of other economic and regulatory mechanisms such as financial aid, policy frameworks, and trade conventions were also established to prevent and mitigate deforestation. These include the International Tropical Timber Agreement (1983), the Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species (1975) and the Global Environment Facility (1991).
Despite the increased levels of concern in the run-up to the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, tensions between the North and the global South over access to finance and technology for the preservation of forests protracted negotiations. Although many Northern countries had hoped for a legally binding convention, the resulting Statement of Forest Principles represents the "mean position of the lowest common denominator" and is voluntary. Disappointed with the outcome of the Earth Summit, NGOs such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) began to turn their attention to industry for a governance-oriented resolution to deforestation.
In the lead-up to the Earth Summit, social groups, NGOs, and industries were also beginning to consult on the issue of deforestation. In America, the consultation process that eventually led to the establishment of the FSC was initiated in 1990 and concluded in the confirmation of support for the development of a voluntary worldwide certification and accreditation governance system that would cover all forest types.
In the UK, NGO WWF began to facilitate action through the establishment of the 1995 Group, recruiting organizations that had been spurred on by instances of direct action and boycotting over the sale of tropical wood to form an NGO-business partnership. Through stakeholder involvement, it became apparent that a standard-setting body would be required to verify the source of wood products and define sustainable forest management. After 18 months of consultation in ten different countries, the Forest Stewardship Council was established in 1993.
The failure of governments to reach any notable form of consensus in the form of an internationally reaching and legally binding agreement caused both disillusionment and an opportunity for change through the involvement of civil society and business actors to form "soft law". As such the establishment of the Forest Stewardship Council as the response to this disillusionment also represents a global shift from government to governance and its creation is a primary example of the use of market and economic factors to create movement on a global environmental issue.
In February 2012, the membership approved the first major revision to the 10 Principles and associated Criteria (FSC P&C), which form the basis for all FSC standards and certification, in order to bring its certification up to date. The review and revision of the FSC P&C began in 2008 and gathered feedback from many FSC members and other stakeholders. This revision also marked the start of a process of developing baseline requirements for each of the revised Criteria. These requirements – called International Generic Indicators (IGIs) – are intended to ensure consistent application of the FSC P&C across all countries. Where national standards are not currently established, the IGIs will be used as interim standards.
On 25 September 2009, the first FSC Friday took place in Bonn. FSC Friday is a once-a-year promotional event dedicated to the celebration of forests around the globe and the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide.
Purpose
The FSC's stated mission is to "promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests". It claims that forests managed to its standards offer benefits to both local and wider communities, and these are said to include cleaner air and water, and a contribution to mitigating the effects of climate change. FSC addresses issues such as illegal logging, deforestation and global warming and some reports indicate positive effects on economic development, environmental conservation, poverty alleviation, and social and political empowerment.
To this end, the body has published a global strategy with five goals: Advancing globally responsible forest management. Ensure equitable access to the benefits of FSC systems. Ensure integrity, credibility and transparency of the FSC system. Create business value for products from FSC certified forests. Strengthen the global network to deliver on goals 1 through 4.
These goals are promoted, managed, and developed through six program areas: forests, chain of custody, social policy, monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance, and ecosystem services.
Structure and governance
FSC is an international membership organization with a governance structure based on participation, democracy, equity and transparency. It is a platform for forest owners, timber industries, social groups and environmental organizations to find solutions to improve forest management practices. It is an example of a product-oriented multistakeholder governance group.
It is governed by its members, who join either as individuals or as representatives of organizations. Members apply to join one of three chambers – environmental, social and economic. Each chamber is divided into northern and southern sub-chambers and votes are weighted to ensure that north and south each have 50%. This system is designed to ensure that influence is shared equally between different interest groups, without having to limit the number of members.
FSC has three levels of decision-making bodies: The General Assembly, the Board of Directors and the executive director. The General Assembly, which takes place every three years, is made up of the three membership chambers and is the highest decision-making body in FSC. Every member has the right to attend, formulate and submit motions, and vote. The FSC Board of Directors is accountable to the FSC members. It is made up of nine elected individuals who are FSC members and advocates. One member of the board of directors is elected from each sub-chamber of the General Assembly. The executive director runs FSC on a day-to-day basis with the support of a professional team at the FSC International Center. He or she is accountable to the FSC Board of Directors.
While the FSC International Center is based in Bonn, Germany, it has a decentralized network of FSC Network PartnersJuly 2012, Procedure for the operation of the FSC Network FSC-PRO-60-001 V1-0 EN.pdf that promote responsible forest management on behalf of FSC. FSC Network Partners include FSC National Offices, FSC National Representatives and FSC National Focal Points.
Subhra Bhattacharjee has been the Director General of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) since October 2024.
Membership and partners FSC has around 1200 members, including NGOs such as the World Wide Fund for Nature; civil society organizations; forestry-focused research organizations; certification organizations; private companies in the forestry, timber and paper industries, such as IKEA (Sweden); and trade unions and workers' associations.
Numerous governments worldwide have strengthened market-based incentives for timber certification by providing tax benefits to certified companies, referencing certified products as requirements in their procurement policies and supporting projects linked to FSC through their international development agencies. Some companies also choose timber certification as a tool to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.
FSC is a member of the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance, an association of voluntary international standard setting and certification organizations focused on social and environmental issues. Since 2006, FSC has complied with ISEAL's Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental standards, aimed at assuring high standards for credible behavior in ethical trade.
In 2009, FSC began a pilot project with Fairtrade International (FLO) to help community-based and small-scale timber producers get a fair price for their products and gain visibility in the marketplace. The first jointly labelled FSC-FLO products went onto the market in 2011, using wood from the forests of the Curacautín Valley in Chile, manufactured commercially by Swedish firm Kährs.Kährs Debuts First Ever FSC/Fairtrade-Certified Flooring, Wood Floor Business, published 20 July 2011, accessed 18 September 2022
FSC also works in liaison with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It contributes to the ISO's committees on sustainable criteria for bioenergy, environmental auditing and environmental labelling.
Standards and accreditation FSC is a global forest certification system established for forests and forest products. FSC International sets the framework for developing and maintaining international, national and sub-national standards. This is intended to ensure that the process for developing FSC policies and standards is transparent, independent and participatory. A number of alternative national and regional forest certification bodies also exist around the globe.
The FSC has 10 Principles and associated Criteria that form the basis for all FSC standards and certification.
Using the FSC logo supposedly signifies that the product comes from responsible sources—environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable. The FSC label is used on a wide range of timber and non-timber products, from paper and furniture to medicine and jewelry, and aims to give consumers the option of supporting responsible forestry.
National Forest Stewardship Standard In addition to its global certification standard, FSC develops national standards in selected countries. These standards are closely aligned to the global certification standard and its criteria, but are adapted to local context conditions. Currently, so called National Forest Stewardship Standards exist for the following countries (sorted by first year of introduction):
Accreditation FSC does not conduct certification audits itself, developing procedures and standards to evaluate whether certification bodies can provide independent and competent certification services. This process is known as 'accreditation'.