Within the international agenda, Ibá actively participates in the most significant global forums and councils on forest-related topics, industrial matters, and a variety of negotiations on subjects related to foreign trade of forest-based products, where it presents and defends topics of interest to Brazilian planted tree sector. The association’s international agenda includes forestry issues (such as certification, good practices of forest management, tree biotechnology and innovation), industrial matters (like agreements and international regulations, technical barriers, infrastructure for the foreign trade, commercial defense, competitiveness, use of waste and recycling), and social and environmental topics such as support for small forest producers and carbon uptake by planted trees.
Highlights of these activities include leading the Agribusiness Working Group of the BRICS Business Council (a political group for cooperation, multilateralism, and trade openness that includes Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and the International Chamber of Commerce’s Commission of Environment and Energy.
Ibá’s participation in the Steering Committee of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA), formed by more than 30 associations in countries that are major players in the world forestry market, is also important; these groups include the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), and the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). The ICFPA seeks to promote the cooperation of its members in areas of common interest, as well as to defend the interests of the forest-based product industry worldwide through an agenda which includes topics of great relevance and joint activities presented by its members.
Ibá also monitors major international negotiations conducted by the United Nations (UN) on climate change and sustainable development. Ibá has been granted observer status by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), where it follows discussion of interest that impact the Brazilian planted tree industry.
Finally, Ibá also maintains relationships with other organizations that deal with topics of interest to the forestry sector worldwide, such as the Forest Solutions Group of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (FSG/WBCSD), the main forest certification systems, namely the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and social and environmental organizations and forums such as The Forest Dialogue (TFD).