International Relations - A Green Journal?

International Relations is a quarterly academic journal whose editorial board features some of the leading lights of UWA's International Politics Department, and is published by Sage Publications. The paper that it is printed on, however, may not match the pearls of wisdom contained inside...

The journal is printed on a type of paper called Amber Graphic (80sgm). According to Sage, this is not Forest Stewardship Council certified but is made from 'sustainable sources'. I asked what 'sustainable' meant and the reply that I recieved was

"The paper pulp is made from a combination of 70 percent 'virgin' fibre taken from sustainable sources (defined as from forests that are being replenished and managed in an environmentally responsible way) and 30percent 'mill broke' meaning unprinted waste paper that is broken down for re-use."

The manufacturer of this paper is Arctic Paper, a Polish/Swedish company. To be fair, it has ISO 14001 accreditation and has an EMAS environmental management and reporting system. I can take that as an assurance that the process of making the paper at the mills is fully audited, tracked and monitored and that efforts are in place to minimize waste, water and energy consumption.

But the raw material from which the paper is made - the trees in the forests - doesn't come with similar guarantees. Forest Stewardship Council certification is the only process that effectively guarantee that the forests are well managed and that associated environmental, economic and social issues are fully addressed. This also involves a system called chain-of-custody that tracks the timber through all stages of processing and is third-party audited to ensure that it meets the FSC Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship.

What is significant to me is that this company produces two other ranges of paper - twelve specific types of paper in all - that are FSC-certified. They're obviously doing something extra with these kinds of paper that they're not with the Amber Graphic range and their sourcing methods for Amber Graphic do not meet FSC standards. Finding out that the paper is 'sustainable' is obviously better than finding out that it comes from, for instance, illegally-logged Papua New Guinean rainforest - but I wouldn't be prepared to put money on the claim that it doesn't come from ancient, old-growth forest. In comparison to FSC-certified products, there are no cast-iron guarantees when it comes to a 'sustainable' product. There are, after all, a whole range of ways that the label 'environmentally responsible' can be defined (I'm reminded of the ammunition manufacturer that stopped producing depleted uranium munitions and called itself a socially responsible company).

And by the way, the only reason that I chose to look into International Relations is because I'm an international politics student - I would encourage you to look into similar issues for any journals whose editorial team comes from your UWA academic department. Let me know of any outcomes - good or bad! A useful starting point on the politics of paper/timber sourcing is Greenpeace's Protecting Ancient Forests campaign.