Key Terms & Glossary
Defining references and definitions for sustainability disclosure and clarity:
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.
Biodiversity: The degree of variety of life in the world, habitats or ecosystems.
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.
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 negative certification: All West Fraser 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: A natural or managed system that stores carbon, such as forests, soils, or harvested wood products.
Carbon storage: The retention of carbon in a stable form within a carbon pool, preventing its release into the atmosphere.
Carbon removal: The transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into a carbon pool for long-term storage.
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.
Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC): The contractual instruments that convey information about a unit of energy, including the resource used to create energy and the emissions associated with its production and use.
EUDR: 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 EU market. It repeals Regulation (EU) No 995/2010.
Greenhouse gas (GHG): 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).
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.
Renewable Wood Products: Useful harvested wood materials, or products, that can be replenished generations over, 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 Forests and Wood Procurement Policy:
SBTi 2030 Commitment: Demonstrating progress and developing scenario-based forecasts (emission waterfall) to aim to achieve West Fraser’s validated Science Based Target initiative’s emission reduction targets to combat climate change 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.
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.
Sequestration: The active process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, with the carbon stored in trees, plants and their biomass.
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: The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is a framework that provides recommendations on the type of information that companies should disclose to investors, lenders and insurance underwriters in appropriately assessing, pricing and managing risks related to climate change.
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: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 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.