Newsletter Stories


Wednesday, 28 October 2015
FSC International Launches Ambitious New Strategic Plan

October 28, 2015


On October 12, 2015, the Forest Stewardship Council International released the FSC Global Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020, which will guide operations over the next five years.  

Ambitiously, the plan calls for doubling FSC’s share of global forest products trade over the next five years to 20 percent. To achieve this objective, the plan is built on three strategies: strengthening the FSC framework and governance, increasing the market value of FSC, and transforming the way FSC works.  

“I applaud the FSC International Board of Directors and the Secretariat for developing such a forward-looking plan,” said Kerry Cesareo, Senior Director, Forests, for the World Wildlife Fund and FSC-US Board Co-Chair. Kerry has long supported FSC’s strategic planning efforts including authoring Motion 84 at the 2014 FSC General Assembly. “Strategic plans are about making choices, and now it is time for the hard work of implementing the decisions embodied in the plan,” she added.  

Highlights of the new plan include the following: 

  • Streamline the normative framework – FSC will improve certification uptake, cost-effectiveness and outcomes by stabilizing and simplifying FSC policies, standards and procedures while maintaining system integrity, transparency, and credibility. 
  • Rapidly increased consumer demand – FSC will dramatically increase our focus on promotion of FSC as a consumer brand, inspiring collaborations with partners that achieve meaningful empowerment of people and conservation outcomes while creating benefits that reach all along supply chains, all the way back to forests 

The Forest Stewardship Council US provided input into the strategic planning process and strongly endorses the resulting product. We look forward to working with colleagues and stakeholders in the US and across the world to ensure the organization successfully implements the strategies.  

We encourage all FSC members and certified companies to read the plan here