Resolute Forest Products Now World's Largest Manager of Forest Stewardship Council® Certified Forests

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• Publié par: resolute-forest-products-inc
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English

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Resolute Forest Products Now World's Largest

Manager of Forest Stewardship Council®

Certified Forests

PR Newswire

TORONTO and MONTREAL, June 13, 2012

TORONTO

and

MONTREAL

,

June 13, 2012

/PRNewswire/ --

Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) and the World Wildlife Fund

(WWF) are pleased to announce that Resolute has become the largest manager

of Forest Stewardship Council

®

(FSC

®

) certified forests in the world.

The Company recently certified 3.2 million hectares (7.9 million acres) of

forestlands in the Lac-Saint-Jean region of

Quebec

to the FSC Boreal Standard.

This certification raises the total area of Resolute-managed FSC-certified

forests in

North America

to 10.3 million hectares (25.6 million acres), an area

twice the size of

Nova Scotia

and larger than

Portugal

,

Hungary

or

South Korea

.

"Becoming the world's largest FSC holder is a major milestone in our efforts to

become a positive force for sustainability within the forest products industry,"

stated Richard Garneau, Resolute's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Resolute's growing commitment to FSC complements other key sustainability

initiatives, including the Company's membership in WWF's Climate Savers

Program, which helps companies set and achieve ambitious emission reduction

targets, as well as membership in the landmark Canadian Boreal Forest

Agreement."

FSC is an international certification and labelling system dedicated to promoting

responsible management of the world's forests. Co-founded in

Canada

by WWF

in 1993, FSC works to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial

and economically viable management of the world's forests. FSC is an

important example of how environmental organizations and businesses can

work together to conserve important regions and wildlife while ensuring long-

term success for industry.

"WWF congratulates Resolute for their FSC-certification achievement," said

Gerald Butts, President and Chief Executive Officer, WWF-Canada. "This

success, coupled with their commitment to the Climate Savers program, shows

the value and importance of making conservation a business priority, and the

critical role that corporations can and must play in addressing the major

environmental challenges we are facing today."

Under the WWF Climate Savers Program, Resolute has pledged to reduce its

absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent below 2000 levels by 2015.

Resolute also made a series of other commitments as part of its Climate Savers

membership, including increasing its FSC certification to 80 percent by 2015.

With the latest certification, Resolute has passed the halfway point in delivering

on its 80 percent commitment.

"Resolute Forest Products has long played an important role in the

Ontario

forest products industry. Certainly this is a tremendous milestone for Resolute

and we are proud of their ongoing commitment to sustainable forest

management practices," stated Michael Gravelle,

Ontario

Minister of Natural

Resources. "I want to personally congratulate all the employees of Resolute on

this accomplishment, and I look forward to continuing our close working

relationship with the Company as we strengthen the sector together."

Resolute will continue working to protect the forests entrusted to its care and to

improve its overall sustainability performance, enhancing its reputation as an

environmental supplier of choice. Resolute is committed to the three pillars of

sustainability - environmental, social and economic.

Resolute Forest Products previously operated as AbitibiBowater. Information

about the certifications can be found at http://www.info.fsc.org under the name

AbiBow. The most recent certification is under license code FSC

®

C108950.

WWF

WWF is creating solutions to the most serious conservation challenges facing

our planet, helping people and nature thrive (http://www.wwf.ca). WWF Climate

Savers was founded in 1999 to engage businesses in establishing ambitious

greenhouse gas reduction targets and voluntarily and creatively working to

reduce emissions. Leading corporations have established ambitious targets to

reduce their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily. By increasing efficiency,

Climate Savers companies are saving hundreds of millions of dollars, proving

that protecting the environment is sound business practice

(http://www.wwf.ca/about_us/business/climate_savers).

ResoluteForestProducts

Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a

diverse range of products, including newsprint, commercial printing papers,

market pulp and wood products. The Company owns or operates 21 pulp and

paper mills and 22 wood products facilities in

the United States

,

Canada

and

South Korea

. Marketing its products in more than 90 countries, Resolute has

third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest

management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under

the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto

Stock Exchange.

Resolute and other member companies of the Forest Products Association of

Canada

, as well as a number of environmental organizations, are partners in

the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to

conservation issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of

sustainability linked to human activities: environmental, social and economic.

Resolute is also a member of the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program,

in which businesses establish ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce

greenhouse gas emissions and work aggressively toward achieving them.

For further information:

WWF

Riannon John

Communications Specialist

[phone]

[e-mail]

Resolute Forest Products

Seth Kursman

Vice President, Corporate Communications,

Sustainability and Government Affairs

[phone]

[e-mail]