Governance towards responsible forest business: Guidance on different types of forest business and the ethics to which they gravitate

This paper is for government authorities with responsibility for the forest sector. It aims to clarify what ‘responsible forest business’ might mean. Drawing out four major conclusions, it proposes a bigger and bolder idea of responsibility than many notions of corporate social responsibility. It suggests broader ethical consideration of what business is responsible for, who business is responsible to and over what time frame business is responsible. The paper ends with some practical steps to improve governance towards responsible forest business.