PEFC certification in UAE | How does PEFC help the European Green Deal?

PEFC is an assurance certification of national forest certification standards. PEFC stands for Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification which is an international organization aiming to promote sustainable forest management. PEFC - short for Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification - is a globally recognized non-profit organization that champions sustainable forest management through certification. This valuable program not only establishes standards for certifying forests but also facilitates the traceability of sustainably sourced wood products to the worldwide consumer.

Understanding PEFC Certification in UAE

PEFC is an internationally recognized forest certification program that ensures sustainable forest management without harming the environment. PEFC Certification works as a guarantee towards the PEFC-certified product buyers on trustworthy and sustainable manufacturing.

PEFC Standard in UAE covers a huge variety of forest-based goods, packaging materials, paper, timber materials, etc. It ensures no usage of harmful materials like plastic, steel or other alternatives to be used in any sector of manufacturing the goods. On the other hand, it requires the resources to come from environmentally sustainable forests with legitimacy.

European Green Deal

Issues like Deforestation, Climate Change, and Global Warming are some of the most important issues of the globe right now and they are causing existential crises in the world. European Commission launched its climate change strategy in 2020.

European Green Deal is a set of policies aiming to make the EU world's first 100% climate-neutral bloc by the year 2050. The EU Commission has promised that the objectives of this deal will transform the EU into a modern yet greener continent with other environment-friendly goals -

• Minimum 55% net emission cut by 2030

• Zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

• Making a Zero-Pollution Europe

• Ensuring Clean and Sustainable Energy

• Establishing Farm to Fork strategy for a healthier and environment-friendly food system.

• Preserving Bio-diversity

• Developing Circular Economic Growth

• No places or persons will be left behind

Importance of PEFC in the European Green Deal

Forest Certifications like FSC and PEFC play important roles in the initiatives like European Green Deal as its objectives are relevant to greenery and forestry. PEFC is a global standard for sustainable forest management. Accrediting PEFC assures that the resources used by the organization are completely secure to the environment and come from a sustainable and legitimate forest source.

As PEFC deals with the protection and prevention of global forests, it plays an important role in the European Green Deal:

Careful Resourcing: PEFC Certification requires forest-based products to be resourced from a sustainably and lawfully maintained forest without harming the environment. This creates awareness in the companies to be more careful in choosing the right resources that meet the requirements of the PEFC standard.

Protecting the Forests: Objectives of the European Green Deal include developing a greener European Union which indicates the deforestation issue. PEFC takes care of the protection of the world's forests against deforestation and establishes resilience and sustainability of the forests which helps the continent go greener.

Enhancing Economic Growth: The PEFC label is an assurance that the product manufacturing is environment-friendly. This gains the consumer trust that excels the sales and brand value of the organization.

Complies with the Aims: Forests are the most important factor of natural disasters. The main objective of the European Green Deal is to make the EU climate-neutral which is dependent on Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). A Sustainable Forest Management can effectively mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions.

Difference between FSC and PEFC Certification

Both FSC and PEFC are committed to sustainable wood and forest management, yet the differences between them are quite visible. Some are:

• FSC is a second-party certification whereas PEFC is a third-party certification.

• FSC Certification is issued by the organization itself. On the contrary, PEFC demands certification bodies to issue the certificate.

• FSC was primarily published to prevent the illegal usage of timbers. PEFC solely aims for sustainable forestry and eco-friendly forest management

• PEFC has accounted for over 264 million hectares of verified forests and its certification is implemented in over 30 countries. But FSC has around 180 million hectares of world forest and is recognized in over 80 countries.

Both FSC and PEFC have the common goal of promoting sustainable forest management, although ultimately, the decision to adopt one system over the other often depends on the priorities and preferences of stakeholders, industries, and consumers. This choice may be influenced by various factors, including specific values and criteria that different organizations may have.

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