Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit

Are you a financier of the forestry industry? Are you aware of key environmental and social risks and issues posed by your clients?

Forest degradation is one of the most pressing environmental issues we face. It impacts the planets biodiversity and water resources, and is a significant contributor to climate change. Getting the balance right between economic development and deforestation has proven difficult, and the expansion of certified sustainable forestry has been slow. This is an issue for all companies involved in the supply chain, from forest producers, traders, processors, and end buyers to banks that finance forestry.

Consequently, there is growing interest in the sustainability issues linked to forestry and the risks and opportunities they pose for the financial sector. Many financial institutions have made, or are under pressure to make, commitments to the sustainable financing of forestry. The challenge to the financial sector is in developing consistent and effective policies, implementation and monitoring procedures for sustainable forestry.

The Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit

In response to this need, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) jointly developed the Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to support the financial sector in sustainable financing of industries impacting forests.

The Toolkit has undergone an extensive and thorough stakeholder review, involving forestry companies, banks, NGOs, certification bodies, governments, investors, asset managers and multilateral institutions.

Key benefits

  • Designed as stand-alone modules easily tailored to banks' needs and integrated into existing procedures
  • Succinct resources providing background to the key risks and issues related to the forestry sector
  • Available as a public resource to all financial institutions
  • Aligned to industry standards and best practices in the financial and forestry, paper and packaging industries

Main features of the toolkit

The Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit comprises four key sections arranged in a practical, interactive format, and targeted at specific user groups within a financial institution:

  1. New Application - guidance for assessing prospective forestry sector clients on sustainability issues
  2. Portfolio Management - illustrative approach for evaluating a portfolio of legacy forestry clients
  3. Policy Development - guidance on issues of strategic and operational importance in designing a pragmatic and clear forestry policy
  4. Procurement - a model forestry procurement policy and links to key resources