The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is a forest certification system that was created in 1990 in California, due to the concern of timber consumers and trading companies, and environmental and human rights organizations about the possible loss of forests. This disparate group sought to create a system where well-managed forests could be credibly identified. It took three more years, however, before the idea of a global certification system was developed in Toronto and the FSC Founding Assembly was created. The FSC adds value to products, helping companies demonstrate their commitment to responsible sourcing. The FSC label identifies responsibly sourced forest products and can be applied to fabrics, packaging and labels made from FSC certified materials. The FSC certificate aims to voluntarily assess forestry companies or similar companies in order to achieve or promote economically viable, socially beneficial and environmentally appropriate forest management. The Fashion Forever Green Pact It’s essential that the fashion industry adopts a circular approach and moves towards a more sustainable future: low carbon, more ethical, regenerative and transparent; and that it implements reliable and robust traceability tools that ensure the sustainable origin of its fabrics and thus respond to a growing demand for more responsible and environmentally committed fashion. FSC has launched a sustainable fashion pact, The Fashion Forever Green Pact, calling on the fashion industry to adopt sourcing policies that help preserve the world's forests. Collaborating for nearly 5 years, the CanopyStyle initiative, with more than 161 commercial brand partners such as H&M, GAP, Zara and Stella McCartney, committed to eliminate the use of primeval and endangered forests from their supply chains, explore innovative fibers such as recycled garments and contribute to fostering conservation solutions. All of these brands have positioned the FSC as the forest certification system of choice. Fast fashion is here to stay and the industry's impacts on the world's forests may not be immediately apparent. However, the fashion industry has a growing ecological footprint and trees are used to create textiles such as viscose. The initiative has also succeeded in securing wood procurement policies from rayon and viscose fiber manufacturers, which now account for more than 70% of the world's viscose fiber production.
From Forest to Consumer Fashion supply chains are often extremely complex, sometimes making it difficult to determine whether the materials used are responsibly sourced. With more than 25 years of experience and continuous improvement and innovation, FSC as the world's most trusted sustainable forest management solution supports companies in the fashion industry to strengthen the integrity of their supply chain, from forest to consumer. FSC chain of custody certification ensures that FSC certified materials and products have been verified at every stage of processing until the final product is produced, so that customers buying products sold with the FSC label can be confident that they come from well-managed forests and controlled sources. Any company involved in the processing or processing of FSC certified products (e.g. manufacturing, repackaging, labeling, cutting or adding other forest components to the product) must be FSC certified in order to be able to place an FSC label on their products and/or sell them with FSC claims on the sales documents.