Henrik Sjölund, President and CEO of Holmen, has been elected Chairman of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, whose members last year generated ten percent of the Swedish net export value.
There are indeed plenty of challenges, but also opportunities, facing Henrik Sjölund as he steps onboard as Chairman of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation for the next two years.
As consumer demand is decreasing, we are presently experiencing a general decline in economic growth affecting the whole business community. At the same time, the forest-based industries produce products highly essential for people’s everyday life ranging from wood for climate smart construction to hygiene products and packaging for pharmaceuticals, food and transports. We are living in a world with increasing globalization and urbanization. To secure jobs, export and societal welfare, we need to keep our total forest-based value chains up and running – this is without any doubt priority number one both in the short and long term, says Henrik Sjölund.
The Swedish Forest Industries Federation’s mission is to strengthen the member companies’ international competitiveness and to promote the use of forest-based products. Despite a present strong focus on minimizing the negative effects due to the Corona crisis, the work to improve sustainable forest management conditions is still high on the agenda.
One of the most important objectives for the Swedish Forest Industries Federation is to make politicians understand our value-chains and our businesses and to define reasonable terms for sustainable forest management. Our sector and the renewable resources we are based on are pre-conditions for the European Union to build a climate neutral society. We need to use our forests more, not less, to be able to achieve sustainable climate change mitigation. This is the most important opportunity but also challenge for our sector, continues Henrik Sjölund.
RELATED NEWS
