Stora Enso Joins WWF’s Forests Forward Impact Platform

Stora Enso has joined the new WWF platform, Forests Forward. The platform engages businesses and investors to deliver on forest related sustainability ambitions, such as biodiversity protection and forest restoration.

As participants in Forests Forward, companies commit to engaging in areas such as sustainable forest management and trade, better silviculture, reforestation and ecosystem restoration, and biodiversity protection and recovery. Forests Forward aims to support companies, investors and communities in improving the management of a targeted 150 million hectares of forest globally by 2030.

“Sustainable forestry and biodiversity are at the top of Stora Enso’s forest management agenda. We can play a key role in contributing to more sustainable forest management, which will be enhanced with collaborations across the sector. The cooperation with WWF is a great example of a collaboration where we can exchange knowledge and findings to accelerate positive change together,” says Annette Stube, EVP, Sustainability at Stora Enso.

Forests Forward will enable companies to define and implement forward-looking, innovative pathways that have positive, clear impacts on forest landscapes. It will also enable investors to make a positive contribution to the global sustainability agenda. The platform includes an emphasis on communities and local forest management, calling for recognition of the critical role indigenous people and local communities play in forest conservation.

Forests Forward is a natural continuation for over 20 years of collaboration between Stora Enso and WWF. Within the WWF Forests Forward platform, Stora Enso cooperates with WWF Finland to promote the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of forests among private forest owners. Furthermore, together with WWF-Russia, Stora Enso supports sustainable forest management in the forest sector by promoting credible forest certification and good conservation values. At the end of 2020, the total area of forests in Russia certified by Stora Enso exceeded 1.3 million hectares.

About WWF Forests Forward

Forests Forward is WWF’s main impact focused, multi-stakeholder forest sector engagement mechanism that shows the value of responsible production and sourcing of products that directly and indirectly relate to forests, and takes action to deliver positive impacts on forest landscapes, biodiversity, and people. At the heart of Forests Forward is a desire to demonstrate the full value of forests, not just for the wood they supply but for the many other benefits they provide.

About Stora Enso

Part of the bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper. We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has some 25 000 employees in over 30 countries. Our sales in 2019 were EUR 10.1 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY). storaenso.com

Contact:

Ulrika Lilja – Executive Vice President of Communications – +46 72 221 9228

Source: Stora Enso Oyj