SFI Honors National Geographic Society's Wegner for Commitment to Environment
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This week the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) recognized Hans Wegner, chief sustainability officer of the National Geographic Society, with the SFI President's Award during its annual conference in San Antonio, Texas, USA. Wegner's many contributions—both personally and on behalf of National Geographic Society—have been instrumental in raising awareness of the benefits associated with utilizing forest certification as a proof point for sourcing forest products responsibly and for modeling sustainability principles into daily decisions, SFI noted.
"Hans' commitment to sustainability is matched only by the depth of his knowledge and his passion for raising awareness among others," said SFI President and CEO Kathy Abusow. "Hans believes that as a publisher, National Geographic Society has a crucial role to play in encouraging responsible forestry practices and helping to build the foundation of a sustainability model for all users of forest products. He is a true leader in the cause of sustainable forestry."
Hans Wegner, chief sustainability officer of the National Geographic Society, said that "we, as publishers, are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate that we are sourcing our paper responsibly, Our commitment to the SFI Forest Partners Program is a tangible way to increase the supply of certified fiber that helps us meet our responsible procurement objectives."
Wegner recommended that National Geographic take part in a SFI certification pilot project in Maine that became the foundation for the SFI Forest Partners program. Joining the National Geographic Society, Time Inc., Macmillan Publishers, and Pearson added their support to the SFI Forest Partners program to develop innovative approaches to certification with the goals of increasing the amount of fiber available from certified forestlands through chain-of-custody and fiber sourcing certification by establishing a goal of expanding certified U.S. forestland by 10 million acres by the end of 2017. Under Wegner's leadership, the National Geographic Society undertook a complete carbon footprint analysis of the operations of its headquarters and implemented a variety of measures to achieve carbon neutral status for its complex.
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