De-carbonization efforts by China

"China will step up efforts to improve energy efficiency and preserve forests, which help remove CO2 from the atmosphere." said,President Hu Jintao .China previously said it will reduce the amount of energy used in manufacturing and will add power from nuclear reactors and solar panels that produce no CO2 emissions.
For the first time China promised to reduce greenhouse gas emission to fight global warming but in proportion to its economic growth. Obama said that rich nations must lead while fast growing nations like China and India must contribute. 190 countries are working on a climate accord that will replace 1997 Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.The US rejected then the Kyoto accord partly because China never made any commitment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=a5aOJ8geVvPQ

Carbon-Neutral Bibles and Honda Accord

Carbon-Neutral Bibles and Accord [Honda]

Efforts to reduce carbon footprint of printed products got a big blessing from Zondervan Publishers which is about to publish a line of carbon neutral bibles.

"To achieve CarbonNeutral® publication status, the emissions produced by the printing, production, storage and distribution of the Bibles to Walmart were independently measured by a third party assessor, and reduced to net zero through carbon offsetting," the announcement said.

This new green bible series should go well with "What would Jesus drive?" movement which sees present climate change as a moral and spiritual issue. By the way[a good joke from the blog below],the moral and spiritual thing to do is to buy a fuel-efficient Japanese-brand car made in the U.S., as evidenced by Jesus' statement in John 12:49 -- "I do not speak of my own Accord." Ha Ha Ha
From
http://deadtreeedition.blogspot.com/2009/09/carbon-neutral-bibles-amen-to-that.html

The war of the forests....

There are many forest certifications like FSC, PEFC, SFI and LEI to name a few....But now war has broken out between ForestEthics and SFI in the USA. ForestEthics accused SFI guilty of tax fraud, inferior to FSC.......
This happening in a time where a UN report says that the forest certification movement is losing stamina.

Read more in
http://deadtreeedition.blogspot.com/2009/09/great-forest-certification-war.html

Zuber Rieder introduces Bagasse, a new eco-design packaging grade

After so many intimidating price increases let's look at something on the lighter side.

An eco-friendly paper made from by products of sugar cane production, linen and hemp.
"The Bagasse range is the result of an eco-design approach stretching from growing the raw material to disposal of the product. It offers an original solution in terms of sustainable development when it comes to paper and board selection.

Bagasse is produced using by products from sugar cane production, linen and hemp grown on fallow land. As Bagasse does not include the use of trees in its manufacture, it is a low-energy consumption product in terms of both production and for transformation, and is also fully recyclable. Linen and Hemp are also natural crops, which require the use of very little pesticide or weed-killer, very little fertiliser and irrigation. "

Read more in

http://news.paperindex.com/ProductLaunches_NewTechnology/Zuber_Rieder_introduces_Bagasse_a_new_eco-design_packaging_grade/

Indonesian Certification for APP?

APP awarded LEI chain of custody certification for Indonesian mills

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 8, 2009 (Press Release) - Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (LEI) today announced that a number of APP's pulp and paper mills¹ have successfully achieved Chain of Custody (CoC) certification under the LEI certification program².

"The LEI CoC certification is a wood-tracking scheme to ensure that LEI-CoC certified product is sourced from a responsibly-managed forest," said Agung Prasetyo, Executive Director of LEI. "This is an excellent initiative for APP to introduce the first LEI-certified paper worldwide, manufactured from LEI Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certified pulpwood plantation. This signifies our efforts in further promoting Indonesian products certified under a transparent and multi-stakeholder based certification scheme."

Agung Prasetyo added that, LEI-CoC trademark has entered Japan, EU, and USA market through LEI-CoC certified wooden furniture. Today more than 1.5 million hectares of forest in Indonesia is certified under LEI program, consisting of natural production forest, plantation forest, indigenous people forest, and community-based forest.

The certification process, which covers APP's entire product range from pulp and tissue to various kinds of converted paper products, was conducted by TUV International Indonesia from April until July 2009. TUV International Indonesia is a part of German-based TUV Rheinland Group and an LEI accredited certification body. As a leading provider of environmental and social assessment worldwide, TUV operates in over 400 locations around the globe and promotes sustainable forest management.

APP's mills were accredited following a four stage certification program according to LEI's protocol. As a start, a pre-assessment process was conducted by an LEI expert panel³ from April 13th - 21st. On April 22nd, TUV International Indonesia placed a public announcement in a national newspaper to invite input from various stakeholders regarding the ongoing certification process. The main assessment was conducted at various APP production facilities in Sumatra and Java islands from May 7th -20th. All APP production facilities were declared to pass the audit during the decision-making process which was held on July 21st - 24th 2009.

"We were impressed by how hard APP staff worked. They are clearly very dedicated to ensuring all measurement and critical control points are in place for the clean production of LEIcertified products. This is not an easy task," stated Prof. Ir. T.A. Prayitno, M.For, PhD, a member of the LEI certification process expert witness panel.

Aida Greenbury, APP's Director of Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement added, "LEI principles are designed to meet the needs and sustainability concerns of Indonesia in line with national laws and regulations. As such, we are very proud to have achieved LEI CoC certification as it demonstrates our commitment to responsible development of Indonesia's pulp and paper industry. We are constantly working to improve the sustainability of our operations."

In addition to these new LEI CoC certifications, APP's pulpwood supplier, PT Wirakarya Sakti, represents the largest LEI certified plantation in Indonesia. Currently LEI is the only SFM certification program applicable for pulpwood plantation industry in Indonesia. Prior to LEI certification, APP's mills have been certified under various international certification schemes, including Indonesian Ecolabel, European Ecolabel, Japan Ecolabel and PEFC.

On commercial plans for the sale of LEI certified paper, Ms Greenbury added, "APP is planning to market its LEI certified paper globally, starting with Asia. The Asian market is particularly aware of and welcoming to the LEI certification."

APP is planning to start production of LEI certified paper in the fourth quarter of 2009.

1 The pulp and paper mills certified are: PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Tbk , PT Lontar Papyrus Pulp & Paper Industry , PT Pindo Deli Pulp and Paper Mills Karawang and Perawang Mills and PT Pabrik Kertas Tijwi Kimia Tbk .

2 LEI Standard 5001 and guidelines, which include LEI 88 Guideline (Chain of Custody System Certification), LEI 88-02 (General requirement for field assessor for CoC Certification), LEI 88-24 (Guideline for Decision Making Process by Expert Panel), Manual LEI 22-02 (LEI logo usage rules) and LEI Board of Trustee Decree Number 07/LEI/MPA/V/2009 (Amendment of Board of Trustee Number 01/MPA-LEI/VII/2007).

3 The expert panel consisted of Prof. Ir. T .A. Prayitno, M. For PhD - an expert on wood science technology and CoC, Dr. Ir. Sri Nugroho Marsoem, M. Agr. Sc - a pulp and paper specialist, Ir. Sugijanto Soewadi - an expert on sustainable forest management and CoC and Ir. Hasbie Hasbillah - an expert on production and environmental management for sustainable development.

The other viewpoint re reducing carbon emission

"We must be careful when dealing with Western, or Western-influenced, green campaigners. By all means listen to what they have to say. But we must take it with a pinch of salt. We should not let them impose their belief in the carbon emission theory on us, let alone make legislations that will prevent us from improving our standard of living."


Wan Saiful Wan Jan is director general of Malaysia Think Tank (www.WauBebas.org)
read his article in
http://malaysiainsider.com/index.php/opinion/wan-saiful-wan-jan/37142-dont-be-fooled-by-western-environmentalists-and-their-parrots-


Basically it is economic development versus sacrificing for the environment. Is there a workable compromise in-between, I wonder?"