INTERNATIONAL FORUM :Together Towards Global Green Supply Chains – A Forest Products Industry Initiative was successfully held in Shanghai from 22-23 October in 2019 .This international forum is the first dialogue involving representatives from governments, industries, academic and research institutes from the perspective of the positive contribution of wood industry. It is a high-level forum in global wood industry, and is highly valued by domestic and foreign government departments, wood companies, international organizations and research institutions. Mr. Su Chunyu, Chief Engineer of the National Forestry & Grassland Administration of China, Dr. Gerhard Dieterle, Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization (hereinafter referred to as ITTO), Dr. Lee White, Minister of the Ministry of Forest of Gabon, Dr. Eva Mueller, Director General of Forests, German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture and other senior leaders and VIPs attended and delivered speeches. More than 370 representatives from wood enterprises, associations and research institutes from all over the world attended the Forum.

The topics of the Forum include: harnessing the role of the wood industry for climate change and the environment, demand and supply in global wood supply chains, legality and sustainability in global wood-supply chains, meeting challenges of global green supply chains, the economic sustainability of the wood industry in the Congo Basin, building partnership of global green supply chain form wood products, covering policy-level discussions on timber legality and certification issues, also business matching activities between Chinese and foreign wood companies.

All participants proactively engaged in in-depth discussions on the above-mentioned issues, and received good outcomes. The Forum provided an important platform for Chinese leading enterprises in the wood industry to participate in international dialogue. Representing wood industry, the chairman of Power Dekor Group Co., Ltd. called on the international community to jointly maintain and spread the positive image of forestry industry and promote reshaping the overall image of forest industry. This forum is rich in content and diverse in form. In addition to panel discussions and keynote speeches, the Forum also arranges business docking activities and field visits. It has been widely praised by domestic and foreign participants.

Main outputs of the Forum

1.Participants agreed to build a global green supply chain network for forest products

Participants agreed to build a global green supply chain network for forest products. All parties hope to expand the experience of the existing GGSC platform by building a global forest products green supply chain collaboration network, establish a global timber enterprise B2B information exchange and business docking mechanism, and promote the healthy development of global forest industry. This is a positive response to the Global Green Supply Chain initiative launched by Chinese leading forest products companies in 2018. It signifies that the international organization represented by ITTO will actively participate in the construction and promotion of the global green supply chain for forest products. At the Forum, 36 representatives of timber companies and associations from different countries expressed their active support for the initiative.

2. Statement of UFIGA and UFIAG joining the GGSC Initiative

The Union des Forestiers Industriels du Gabon et Aménagistes (UFIGA) and the Union Forestière des Industries Asiatiques au Gabon (UFIAG) collectively declared their support of and participation to the GSSC Initiative, and committed to complete the third-party traceability certification of relevant timber legality within three years with the support of international donors and relevant international institutions. The Minister of the Ministry of Forestry in Gabon and ITTO Executive Director witnessed the signing ceremony of the above agreement. It shows that enterprises are taking positive actions after the cooperation agreement signed between China and Gabon on September 4.

3. Launched the GGSC Expert Pool

During the Forum, the GGSC Global Entrepreneur Expert Pool was officially launched, and the recruitment of the first group of entrepreneur experts has completed. Ten entrepreneur experts from home and abroad were invited to provide constructive suggestions for the GGSC Network. Dr. Gerhard Dieterle (ITTO Executive Director), Dr. Lee White (Minister of the Ministry of Forest in Gabon), and Mr. Du Yongsheng (Chairman of the China Green Carbon Foundation) issued the Appointment Letter for the GGSC Entrepreneur Experts.

Outcomes and Influence

Sixteen media including China Green Times, Xinhuanet, People's Daily, Phoenix, Sina Leju, and NetEase Home attended the press release of the Forum. A number of founding enterprises of GGSC Initiative also used their own channels to spread the outcome of the Forum. Up to now, dozens of domestic media have reported on the Forum. Official websites of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Forestry has been published on official websites of the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau, Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Guangdong Province and Hunan Province also published the news about this Forum. The Shanghai Securities News, China Securities Net, and Tonghuashun Finance reported on the Forum titled as “Enterprises and Organizations Actively Respond to the Global Green Supply Chain Initiative for Forest Product”. China National Radio (CNR) used the title of “Life of Wood, Close to the Earth | Upgrading Green Industry Chain Strategy, Power Dekor Group Leads the New Trend of Low-Carbon and Environmental Protection" to report on the Power Dekor, the founding member of GGSC Initiative.