WILDLIGHT, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) today released its 2021 Sustainability Report, which highlights actions the Company is taking to enhance the long-term well-being of its investors, employees, communities, and other stakeholders. This report illustrates Rayonier’s commitment to transparency around Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors and how they are incorporated into its strategic and operational decision-making.
Earlier this year, Rayonier completed a materiality assessment to better understand the ESG topics that are most important to external stakeholders. The results of this assessment, which are presented in the 2021 Sustainability Report, identified sustainable forest management, safety and wellness, talent recruitment and retention, and business ethics and transparency as the topics that are most impactful to both business outcomes and external stakeholders.
“We are pleased to publish our 2021 Sustainability Report, which provides further insight into the progress we are making on our ESG journey,” said David Nunes, President and CEO. “The findings from our materiality assessment reinforced the long-standing cornerstones of our corporate values and strategy, which are further detailed in the report. At Rayonier, we remain intently focused on sustaining and enhancing the favorable environmental attributes of our forests, investing in our people and communities, and creating a healthy and inclusive organizational culture.”
New features of the 2021 Sustainability Report include additional sections and expanded disclosures for Real Estate, Public Affairs, and Cybersecurity. The report further provides an update on key areas of focus outlined in the 2020 Sustainability Report.
Concurrent with the release of its 2021 Sustainability Report, the Company is also releasing its latest Carbon Report, which quantifies the carbon impacts across the Company’s value chain. In 2021, Rayonier’s forestlands sequestered an estimated 14.7 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents from the atmosphere versus corporate emissions of roughly 350,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents. At year-end 2021, the Company’s forestlands stored an estimated 767 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents in total.
“Given the significant role that forests and downstream wood products play in sequestering carbon, we continue to champion the increased use of wood-based construction materials, which when combined with the carbon sequestered in working forests, will allow our industry to play a meaningful role in stemming the pace of climate change,” stated Nunes.
The 2021 Sustainability Report, as well as the latest Carbon Report, can be found on the Company’s Sustainability web page.
About Rayonier
Rayonier is a leading timberland real estate investment trust with assets located in some of the most productive softwood timber growing regions in the United States and New Zealand. As of June 30, 2022, Rayonier owned or leased under long-term agreements approximately 2.7 million acres of timberlands located in the U.S. South (1.79 million acres), U.S. Pacific Northwest (486,000 acres) and New Zealand (418,000 acres). More information is available at www.rayonier.com.