NEWS
FSC - a valuable tool for
implementing the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals
The FSC claims and labelling system provides supply chain integrity via traceability from responsibly managed forests all the way through the
production process and onto the retailer shelf.
By the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, also referred to as the
Sustainable Development Goals are a universal commitment to ending poverty,
protecting the planet and ensuring human well-being.
A
t the core of this agenda are 17 Goals with 169 targets,
that cover the three dimensions of sustainable
development – economic, social and environmental
– with a strong focus on quality of life, justice, and equality, as
well as the sustainable consumption, production and use of
natural resources. 1
South Africa has embedded the SDG’s in its national development
priorities and is also signatory to the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063
– both these drive South Africa’s implementation of the SDG’s. A
key instrument to implement the SDG’s in South Africa is the
Government’s Bio-economy strategy, which has the goal for
bio-economy sector to be a significant contributor to the country’s
economy and GDP in 2030.
Halting deforestation and forest degradation and practising
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sustainable forest management are important for limiting climate
change and its impacts, protecting biodiversity and freshwater
supplies, providing raw materials for a ‘low ecological footprint’
economy, and protecting the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of
people. The SDGs can be major drivers in efforts to halt
deforestation and forest degradation worldwide, and to strengthen
the positive contributions that forests play in the future of
sustainable development. That is why the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) actively supported the formulation of the SDGs and
the indicators that will help actors to focus their actions.
The FSC is a significant partner in contributing to achieving 14 of
these Goals and 40 targets.
Let us unpack how the FSC meets some of these goals:
FSC’s contribution is mostly directed towards Goal 15 – Life on
// APRIL / MAY 2020
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