Sustainability
Being able to document sustainable business practices based on our values, policies and guidelines is important for a global company like Norske Skog.
Our sustainability report shows that we not only comply with legal requirements and statutory regulations, but also give weight to high ethical standards. To achieve recognition as a world leader in our industry, we must be respected for our conduct by customers, suppliers and the general public.
We are concerned to ensure living and viable forests. All wood used in our production must come from sustainable forestry. Our sustainable forest management standards have been developed jointly by leading environmental and recreational organisations, forest owner associations and representatives of the paper industry. This shows that development is sustainable. We also now rank as the world’s largest user of recovered fibre for newsprint production.
Our mills work continuously to reduce emissions and discharges. Research reports on climate change have given fresh impetus to the environmental debate. Industry must accept its responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We believe that this has to be accomplished through international cooperation, and have accordingly participated in the launch of a global industrial initiative on cutting greenhouse emissions. Called Combating Climate Change (3C), this effort is currently supported by 16 international companies. Our attitude is that industry must participate actively in this process. The goal is to achieve market-based and international solutions.
Our group has been a pioneer in setting a global standard for social responsibility and worker-management relations. We were the first international paper manufacturer to sign an agreement with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM) and the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions concerning employee rights on a global basis. We were also an early adopter of the 10 principles in the UN Global Compact. Through our development programme for managers and employees, the whole organisation is being familiarised with the values, ethical standards and good business conduct on which we build our business.