Page 8 - Georgia Forestry - Issue3 - Summer 2021

ENVIRONMENT
Forests Are a
GROWING SOLUTION
to Climate Change
From climate-smart forestry to mass timber buildings, forests are mitigating climate change
By Jason Metnick, Senior Vice President of
Customer Affairs at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative
than 375 million acres certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard and tens of millions more certified to the SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard.
Objective 9 of the 2022 SFI Forest Man- agement Standard defines climate-smart forestry as ensuring forest management activities address climate change adap- tation and mitigation measures. This part of the standard ensures the use of best-available scientific information to require actions such as identifying and prioritizing climate change risks, developing adaptation plans, document- ing how an SFI-certified organization’s climate plans fit within broader regional strategies and plans, and reporting annu- ally on progress.
The new 2022 Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Standards and Rules are focused on solving some of the world’s biggest sustainability chal- lenges — including climate change. Requirements for a new SFI Climate Smart Forestry Objective are one of the highlights of the new standards.
Climate-smart forestry plays a central role in the carbon cycle and, with proper management, can be one of the most effective nature-based solutions to the climate crisis. Under the new standards,
announced this year on Earth Day, SFI- certified organizations will be required to ensure forest management activities address climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.
Our hopes to mobilize forests for climate will depend on influencing forest practices across as many acres as possible, helping to infuse them with science-based approaches to achieve resilient carbon sequestration and healthy forests for our future. When it comes to climate change, SFI has the scale to make a difference, with more
6 | GEORGIA FORESTRY