News Releases
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Resolute Forest Products Issues 2010 Sustainability Report
MONTREAL, Nov. 30, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: ABH) (TSX: ABH) today issued its 2010 Sustainability Report, reviewing Company performance in key areas such as environmental impact, stakeholder engagement, product stewardship, fiber sourcing, community relations, human resources, and health and safety.
This year's report is the first prepared by the Company using the G3 guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), one of the world's most broadly accepted standards for accountable and transparent sustainability reporting.
"I'm proud of how far Resolute has progressed in becoming a stronger, more sustainable organization, but we know we need to keep doing better year after year," said Richard Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer. "By focusing on the three pillars of sustainability - environmental, social and economic - we will improve our competitiveness, enhance our reputation and be an environmental supplier of choice. And GRI reporting provides a framework to improve the accountability and transparency of our approach to sustainability."
In preparing the report, Resolute conducted an extensive analysis to identify sustainability issues deemed most important by stakeholders. While the analysis found that overall Company performance has been improving steadily over the years, further action was required to manage some key issues. To address these matters, the report includes a series of sustainability commitments to be tackled by the Company, including among others:
- Climate Change: achieve a 65% absolute reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 over the 2000 base year.
- Forestry and Fiber: increase Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of managed woodlands from 18% in 2010 to 80% by 2015.
- Health and Safety: reduce the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) incident rate to 1.0 or below, with the ultimate goal of zero incidents, zero injuries throughout the Company.
- Employees: successfully ensure the next generation of the Company's workforce, with the goal of recruiting between 2,500 and 3,500 employees over the next three years.
- Communities: rebuild strong relationships in operating communities.
For a copy of the report and for more information on Resolute Forest Products' approach to sustainability, visit the Company's website at www.resolutefp.com/publications.
About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The Company owns or operates 18 pulp and paper mills and 23 wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. Marketing its products in close to 90 countries, Resolute Forest Products has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products, formerly doing business as AbitibiBowater, trade under the stock symbol ABH on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.Resolute and other member companies of the Forest Products Association of Canada, as well as a number of environmental organizations, are partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to conservation issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of sustainability linked to human activities: economic, social and environmental. Resolute is also a member of the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, in which businesses establish ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions and work aggressively toward achieving them.
For further information:Investors
Rémi G. Lalonde
Vice President, Investor Relations
514 394-2345
ir@resolutefp.comMedia and Others
Seth Kursman
Vice President, Corporate Communications,
Sustainability and Government Affairs
514 394-2398
seth.kursman@resolutefp.com