CPET activities

It has been a while since we sent out the last CPET update, but it is not because it has been quiet here - we have been very busy over the past months.

Before Christmas CPET were invited to present and share our experience at events abroad in Paris, Copenhagen and Rome. CPET also attended the FSC general assembly in Cape Town, in the same way that we attended the PEFC general assembly in Munich the year before.

In December the results of the 2008 bi-annual review of the certification schemes was published. The final report concluded that FSC, PEFC, SFI and CSA (the latter two now endorsed by PEFC) continue to deliver evidence of sustainability. The fifth scheme MTCS (formerly MTCC - which was found to deliver legality in the last assessment) is in the process of introducing revised requirements. The 2008 review concluded that the MTCS scheme will provide evidence of sustainability once these revisions are fully in place and we are currently seeking full assurance of the implementation of the revised requirements. Read the announcement here.

This winter’s regional workshops have come to an end and we have been

travelling the country from North to South and East to West to come to you. More than 200 people have been trained this winter. Northern Ireland will implement the policy change and CPET was invited to Belfast to run workshops for the public sector, suppliers and contractors and also provided an update for members of WOOD-NI representing the timber traders in the region. It has been good and inspiring to meet the regional public buyers, suppliers and contractors and we thank you for your participation and feedback.

More and more Local Authorities are attending our training sessions and we are focusing on engaging and encouraging Local Authorities to implement policies on timber procurement. In January we launched a new section on the CPET website specifically designed for Local Authorities. Read more about our work to engage Local Authorities here.  

Climate change is staying high on the agenda and the implementation of a timber procurement policy is one way of addressing the issue. The link between timber procurement policies, illegal logging and climate change is now explained on the CPET website.

There has been and remains a lot of work to do in preparation of the launch of the policy change, and in January the CPET team expanded and Solène Le Doze joined the team as the new CPET awareness co-ordinator. Solène is leading on raising awareness in close co-operation with Defra read more here.

We have also been exploring the reporting and monitoring requirements across Central Government with Defra. We have consulted five Defra bodies through the study and are in the process of writing up a report which will provide the base for further decisions.

Just before Easter the updated Timber Procurement Advice Note from Defra was published and is now available to guide the public sector through the implementation of the policy change read more here.

Remember CPET is here to help and support you.