In the fight against climate change, reducing emissions by saving energy is an important measure in the industry. By determining the “climate-relevant footprint” of the company, we have been helping to establish the climate balance at all production sites around the world since 2010.
In March 2014, the CO2 footprint of the Faber-Castell Group was certified by TÜV Rheinland® based on the international standard ISO 14064. Our company-run forests make the Faber-Castell Group one of the few corporations that absorbs considerably more carbon dioxide than it produces.

Since 1999 the Faber-Castell plantations have also been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC^®): a demanding international standard for “environmentally compatible, socially equitable, and sustainable forestry”. The Chain of Custody (COC) certification guarantees furthermore that the origin of the wood can be traced all the way from harvesting the timber to packaging the pencils.

Faber-Castell initiated a pioneering plantation project nearly three decades ago/in 1984 on former grassland with a poor sandy soil; it proved to be a forestry project of unique character in the industry, located in the middle of the Brazilian savannah near Prata (Minas Gerais state), more than 2,500 kilometres away from the Amazon rainforest. It currently covers 10,000 hectares.

Faber-Castell is making an important contribution to sustainable forest management in the agricultural north of Columbia close to the Magdalena River. Since 2009, it has been one of the few private-sector investors to take part in this project with the goal of securing wood resources for pencil production with the small-scale farmers based there. Around 2,000 hectares of woodland area have been farmed by the small farmers since then. In 2012, it became the first forestry project to be included in the strictly monitored "Clean Development Mechanism" (CDM) program by the United Nations.

Our commitment to the environment is not restricted to production. In Brazil, for example, Faber-Castell has made an active contribution with the Arboris, Animalis, and ECOmmunity projects since 2001. The goal is to preserve the natural flora and fauna in the region around Prata, and to create an awareness among employees and the general populace so that they are motivated to take care of the natural environment. The number of registered species has grown continuously since the recordings were started. The area now provides a habitat for around 64 species of mammal, 237 species of bird and 60 species of reptile and amphibian.