Enviva, a leading global renewable energy company specializing in sustainable wood bioenergy, today published its 2021 Implementation Plans, a detailed proposal of goals and initiatives designed to continue to deliver on the company’s commitment to responsible and sustainable wood sourcing. Enviva operates pursuant to its global Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP) – its standing environmental pledge that ensures the company’s wood is sourced according to its strict environmental standards.
Consistent with previous years, the 2021 Implementation Plans define Enviva’s set of measurable goals for this year in three sections: sustainable forestry standards, verification and transparency, and conservation leadership across the U.S. Southeast, where the company owns and operates wood pellet production plants. Enviva exports its sustainably sourced bioenergy to power and heat generators in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan, enabling them to replace coal with renewable fuel and to reduce their lifecycle carbon footprint by more than 85 percent.
“Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we generated positive outcomes last year in our sustainability efforts to help improve forest ecosystems. As pandemic-related restrictions now begin to ease, we are so excited about the opportunity to get back to full capacity and to continue to work hand-in-hand with our partners on the ground to deliver on our ambitious sustainability promises,” said Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at Enviva.
About the 2021 Implementation Plans
In 2020, Enviva partnered with GoChain to conduct a pilot program designed to enhance the traceability of its pellets using blockchain technology. Given the pilot’s success, this year Enviva will continue to work with GoChain and other partners to develop a technology solution that integrates with Enviva’s existing systems and processes.
In 2020, Enviva also made tangible commitments to forest protection and restoration of sensitive ecosystems via partnerships with conservation organizations such as The Longleaf Alliance and the Forests Stewards Guild.
As part of its work with The Forest Stewards Guild to promote wildlife-oriented forestry in bottomland hardwood forests, Enviva plans to assist landowners in coastal North and South Carolina to undertake bottomland hardwood restoration in their forests, with the goal of certifying their forestland and writing sustainable forest management plans for them in the process. The Forest Stewards Guild – a national organization focused on forestry education, training, policy analysis, research and advocacy – has been working with Enviva on helping to ensure sustainable bottomland sourcing since 2016, and has been instrumental in providing constructive input on how the company can continue to improve its sourcing from these sensitive forests.
Enviva will continue to strengthen its existing partnership with The Longleaf Alliance to actively seek longleaf restoration through its wood sourcing on private and public lands across the U.S. Southeast. In 2021, one of the goals of the partnership is to restore 3,500 acres of longleaf pine through restoration-oriented sourcing. Longleaf forests are one of the most important and biologically diverse ecosystems in the U.S. Southeast, and because many such forests need thinning, appropriate biomass removals are a critical step in the longleaf restoration process and for wildlife habitat improvement.
When Enviva launched its enhanced RSP over two years ago, it committed to expand high conservation value (HCV) protections through the HCV Resource Network approach – a unique three-step methodology that helps protect HCVs, often referenced as a tool for achieving several UN Sustainable Development Goals. To its knowledge, Enviva is the only wood product consumer company in the U.S. Southeast that implements the approach for all of its primary feedstock.
Last year, Enviva laid the groundwork to support the HCV process expansion and is now ready to implement it. The expanded HCV program includes inspecting tracts for imperiled species and ecological communities. If the occurrence of an imperiled species or ecological community is found, Enviva will work with the landowner and supplier to implement management and harvest practices that are consistent with the conservation of the element occurrence. Per its HCV policy, the company will only source from such tracts if an agreement is reached to help conserve the element occurrence.
To view Enviva’s 2021 RSP Implementation Plans click here. For more details on Enviva’s Responsible Sourcing Policy click here.
About Enviva Holdings, LP
Enviva Holdings, LP is the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, a renewable and sustainable energy source used to generate electricity and heat. Through its subsidiaries, Enviva Holdings, LP owns and operates wood pellet processing plants and deep-water export terminals in the U.S. Southeast. We export our pellets to power plants in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan that previously were fueled by coal, enabling them to reduce their lifecycle carbon footprint by more than 85 percent. We make our pellets using sustainable practices that protect Southern forests and employ about 1,200 people and support many other businesses in the U.S. Southeast. Enviva Holdings, LP conducts its activities primarily through two entities: Enviva Partners, LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership (NYSE: EVA), and Enviva Development Holdings, LLC, a wholly owned private company. To learn more about Enviva Holdings, LP, please visit our website at www.envivabiomass.com.
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