Key Terms & Glossary
Defining references and definitions for sustainability disclosure and clarity:
Afforestation: The establishment of forest cover on land that has not previously been forested, or has been without forest for an extended period, through deliberate tree planting or seeding. Distinct from reforestation, afforestation creates new forested areas rather than restoring existing ones.
Beneficial byproduct: The materials generated during the manufacturing of products, such as harvested wood that can be recovered, reused, or repurposed for additional value, which may include economic, environmental or social value, such as biochar or bioenergy.
Biochar: A carbon-rich material produced through the thermal conversion of organic waste, including wood residuals. Biochar stores carbon over the long term while improving soil health and fertility, representing a climate mitigation tool relevant to West Fraser's forest and residuals management activities.
Biodiversity: For West Fraser, biodiversity is a core consideration in forest management planning, with practices designed to maintain species at risk, habitat connectivity, and ecosystem function across its operating areas. The variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Source: TNFD Glossary
Bioenergy: Renewable energy generated from organic materials, including forest biomass, and other biological sources. For West Fraser, bioenergy supports emissions reduction, waste management, and circular economy goals when sourced and managed responsibly as part of a low-carbon energy strategy.
Biogenic carbon emissions: Carbon released as carbon dioxide (CO2) or methane (CH4) from the combustion or decomposition of biomass or biobased products.
Biogenic carbon sequestration: Carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules absorbed and stored in biological materials such as trees, plants and soils, including carbon in harvested wood and biomass and distinct from fossil carbon. It is considered part of the natural carbon cycle, where carbon is absorbed, stored and released by biological materials through photosynthesis, decomposition and combustion.
Biomass: The mass of matter from living organisms that can be re-utilized or repurposed for additional process benefits, such as bioenergy or agricultural application. Forest biomass includes organic material from all parts of the tree, including bark, branches, needles and residual wood left after forest management activities.
Boreal forest: A northern forest biome dominated by coniferous tree species, characterized by cold climates, short growing seasons, and high ecological significance for carbon storage, water regulation, and biodiversity. Much of West Fraser's Canadian forestry operations, including those in Alberta, take place within boreal and sub-boreal forest ecosystems.
Carbon balance: The net result of carbon inputs and outputs for a defined system over a specified period, determining whether that system is acting as a carbon sink, carbon source, or is carbon neutral. West Fraser uses carbon balance metrics, informed by recognized carbon accounting methodologies, to evaluate the climate performance of its forests, operations, and products.
Carbon dynamics: The cycle of molecular carbon storage and release within forest ecosystems, including trees, soil and the atmosphere, including processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition and combustion.
Carbon flux: The rate at which carbon moves between carbon pools or reservoirs, such as between forests and the atmosphere, measured over a defined time period. Understanding carbon flux helps West Fraser assess how its forest management practices influence the carbon cycle and contribute to or offset greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon negative certification: West Fraser’s products, manufactured in Europe, have been certified as net carbon negative with lifecycle impacts being independently audited by Wood plc. and verified and certified by the international EPD system Secretariat in Sweden.
Carbon pool / carbon reservoir / carbon sink: A carbon pool or reservoir is any system that stores carbon, including forests, soils, the atmosphere, and wood products. A carbon sink is a pool that absorbs more carbon than it releases over a given period, such as a growing forest or healthy soil. West Fraser's managed forests and long-lived wood products function as carbon pools and sinks, contributing to climate change mitigation.
Carbon removal: The transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into a carbon pool for long-term storage.
Carbon stock: The total quantity of carbon stored within a defined ecosystem, such as a forest stand, at a specific point in time. West Fraser uses carbon stock measurements to quantify the climate value of standing forests, including trees, understory vegetation, and soils, as part of broader carbon accounting and sustainability reporting.
Carbon storage: The retention of carbon in a stable form within a carbon pool, preventing its release into the atmosphere.
Certified sustainable forest management practices: Implementing forest management planning, harvesting, procurement or chain-of custody activities, that adhere to internationally recognized third-party certification bodies.
CO2e: Carbon dioxide equivalent. The atmospheric impact of greenhouse gas standardized to one unit of carbon dioxide, based on the global warming potential of noted greenhouse gas.
Decarbonization: The process of reducing and ultimately eliminating greenhouse gas emissions associated with operations, products, services, and value chain, in alignment with West Fraser’s climate commitments and broader industry transition to a low-carbon economy.
Displacement effect: The climate benefit achieved when sustainable materials or renewable energy sources replace more carbon-intensive alternatives. In the context of West Fraser, this represents the emissions avoided when wood products substitute for fossil fuel-intensive materials such as steel or concrete and is considered one of the most significant contributions wood products make to climate change mitigation.
Double materiality assessment: A process used to identify and prioritize sustainability topics based on both their potential impact on society and the environment, and their potential financial effect on West Fraser's performance, position, or future prospects. This dual lens informs West Fraser's sustainability strategy and disclosure priorities.
Ecosystem services: The benefits that healthy ecosystems provide to people and businesses, including provisioning services, such as timber and fresh water, regulating services, such as flood mitigation, climate regulation, and soil stabilization, and cultural services, such as recreation and spiritual value.
Embodied carbon: The total carbon dioxide emitted during manufacturing, transportation, and construction of building materials, together with end-of-life disposal of materials and products, throughout the entire lifecycle. This excludes emissions from operational use.
Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC): The contractual instruments that convey information about a unit of energy, including the resource used to create the energy and the emissions associated with its production and use.
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): A structured, organization-wide framework for identifying, assessing, managing, and monitoring risks that could affect the achievement of West Fraser's strategic, operational, financial, and sustainability objectives, including risks related to climate change, forest health, and regulatory compliance.
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD): A standardized, independently verified document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the lifecycle environmental impact of a product. West Fraser uses EPDs to substantiate the environmental credentials of its wood products and support customers in making informed, low-carbon procurement decisions.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG): A framework of environmental, social and governance factors used to evaluate West Fraser's sustainability performance, risk management, and long-term value creation beyond traditional financial metrics, including considerations such as responsible forest management, community relationships, Indigenous engagement, and corporate governance practices.
EUDR: The European Union Deforestation-free Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, adopted on 31 May 2023, which aims to prevent the introduction of commodities and products linked to deforestation and forest degradation into the European Union market. It repeals the EU Timber Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 995/2010.
Forest carbon: The carbon stored in forest ecosystems managed by West Fraser, including standing trees, understory vegetation, soils, and harvested wood products, as well as the ongoing role of forest growth and management in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide over time.
Greenhouse gas: The release of molecular gases into the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic activities that have measured global warming potential (GWP) as defined by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A systematic methodology for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire lifecycle, from raw material extraction through production, use, and end-of-life disposal or recycling.
Materiality: The level of magnitude or relevance of sustainability topics, such as ESG factors, determined significant based on their importance to stakeholders and their potential impact on West Fraser's performance, position, and long-term value creation. While materiality is also used in a financial reporting context to describe information significant to investors, West Fraser applies the term in a sustainability sense to guide the focus of its sustainability reporting and strategic planning.
Net carbon negative: A state in which a company’s operations or value chain removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits over a given time period through carbon reductions or credible carbon mechanisms.
Operational control: The accountability over daily operating practices and activities contributing to entity performance, production outcomes and consolidation approach for emission disclosure.
Product circularity: The lifecycle process of product development and stewardship to optimize usable life including reuse or repurposing with a promotion of beneficial end-of-life material recovery.
Reforestation: The process of re-establishing forest cover, through natural regeneration or active tree planting, on land that was previously forested but has been degraded or cleared. Reforestation is a core component of West Fraser's forest stewardship commitment, ensuring the long-term productivity and carbon sequestration capacity of its managed forest base.
Renewable: Wood products are considered renewable when they are derived from forests that are managed on a sustainable basis, such that the rate of forest growth and regeneration equals or exceeds the rate of harvest, allowing the resource to be replenished within a human timescale.
Renewable wood products: Useful harvested wood materials, or products, that can be replenished over successive generations, created from sourced fibre that is responsibly managed or responsibly sourced.
Responsible harvesting: Consistently adopting a comprehensive system of principles, objectives and performance measures developed by professional foresters, conservationists and scientists, among others, that combines the perpetual growing and harvesting of trees with the long-term protection of wildlife, plants, soil and water quality.
Responsibly sourced: Defined as meeting the requirements of the West Fraser Sustainable Forest and Wood Procurement Policy:
SBTi 2030 commitment (West Fraser-specific): Demonstrating progress and developing scenario-based forecasts (emission waterfall) which aims to achieve West Fraser’s validated Science Based Target initiative's emission reduction targets and improve climate disclosure:
Reduce direct emissions under West Fraser’s operational control,
- Scope 1 GHG emissions and indirect emissions from purchased energy, Scope 2 GHG emissions, by 46.2% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. These reductions are in line with a scenario which limits global temperature increases to 1.5°C, compared to preindustrial levels.
- Reduce all other indirect emissions within West Fraser’s value chain, Scope 3 GHG emissions by 25% by 2030 from a 2020 base year. Scope 3 GHG reductions align with a scenario which limits global temperature increases to well-below 2°C, compared to preindustrial levels.
Sequestration: The active process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, with the carbon stored in trees, plants and their biomass.
Silviculture: The science and practice of managing the growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to create resilient, productive working forests that meet diverse ecological, social, and economic needs.
Slash management: The management of forest residue left on the ground after harvesting or from natural climate events, including unutilized logs, uprooted stumps and broken or fallen stems.
Sustainable forest management: Management that maintains and enhances the long-term health of forest ecosystems for the benefit of all living things while providing environmental, economic, social and cultural opportunities for present and future generations.
TCFD recommendations: The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations are a framework that guides the type of information companies should disclose to investors, lenders and insurance underwriters in appropriately assessing, pricing and managing risks related to climate change. The IFRS Foundation now continues to monitor the progress of corporate climate-related disclosures.
Tenure: The legal or customary rights governing the ownership, use, and management of land and natural resources, including forests. West Fraser operates under various tenure arrangements that define its rights and responsibilities for sustainable forest management across its operating regions.
TNFD: The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a global initiative that provides a framework for businesses and financial institutions to assess, report and manage their nature-related risks and opportunities and report to investors, shareholders and the public.
UN SDGs: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are 17 aspirational goals aimed at addressing global challenges and promoting prosperity while protecting the planet, creating a framework for sustainability performance alignment.
Value chain: The full range of activities involved in producing and delivering goods and services, from sourcing raw materials to final delivery to the customer.
Watershed: A land area in which all surface water, including precipitation, drains to a common outlet, such as a river, lake, or ocean, functioning as an interconnected ecological and hydrological system. West Fraser considers watershed health in its forest management planning to protect water quality, aquatic habitats, and the communities that depend on and value these resources.