Global timber trade seeks strength through traceability and green finance

The Global Legal and Sustainable Timber Forum (GLSTF) concluded in Macau on Wednesday with the launch of new supply-chain, price-index and financing initiatives, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) executive director Sheam Satkuru said during the GLSTF’s closing session.

“Over the past two days, this forum has brought together more than 800 participants from 49 countries, including high-level authorities from across the tropical regions, alongside leading entrepreneurs, policymakers and experts from the global timber and wood products community. This turnout is a powerful reminder of how much the timber sector values dialogue, collaboration and shared solutions,” Satkuru said.

“What this forum has shown, once again, is that the timber sector is not simply reacting to these pressures; it is innovating through them, transforming challenges into avenues for resilience and long-term sustainability.”

The 2026 GLSTF was co-hosted by ITTO and the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute of Macau (IPIM), and organized by the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC).

The two-day event was held Sept. 22-23 at Galaxy Macau’s International Convention Center (GICC).

Market access and regulation

In her speech, Satkuru highlighted national laws, market-access requirements and regulatory standards as challenges for an international industry operating across jurisdictions during the forum.

“What is legal in one country may be illegal in another, and vice versa,” Satkuru said. “There needs to be mutual respect and mutual recognition for the legislative systems of the countries that are involved.”

Satkuru explained that measures discussed during the forum were designed to bring legal and sustainable trade “from principle into practice,” after years of technical, institutional and financial groundwork by the organization and its partners.

Regarding timber-consuming countries, Satkuru said these countries are introducing more due-diligence and market-access rules. She added that while such rules can be necessary, they should be “reasonable, implementable and attainable” for producers and importers, so that legal and sustainable products can continue reaching markets.

“Balance ensures that every member country and its forestry and timber sectors have a seat at the table where solutions are discussed, maybe argued about, and finally resolved,” the ITTO executive director said.

The ITTO is an intergovernmental organization established in 1986 under the auspices of the United Nations and now includes 37 producing countries and 39 consuming countries.

Its role, Satkuru said, is to keep dialogue open among economies with different development models, trade priorities and forest-governance systems.

According to Satkuru, her organization has implemented close to 1,400 projects in tropical countries through its forestry and trade-and-industry work, creating practical models for legal production, sustainable forest management and certification.

Other outcomes Satkuru highlighted at the forum’s closing press conference were the 2026 Action Framework for Promoting Legal and Sustainable Timber Supply Chains; a new price index on the Global Timber Index platform; the continued use of a blockchain-based timber traceability and trading system; and the establishment of a Global Timber Association Network.

Organizers also announced a Macau-based international cooperation and innovation center for green supply-chain transition and a digital-intelligence fund.

In other prepared closing remarks, IPIM director Elaine Wong said the forum’s new mechanisms would strengthen Macau’s role as a platform for professional exchange, project matching and the commercialization of green-industry outcomes.

Wong also said the event had facilitated discussions among businesses, investors and financial institutions in areas including forestry, timber processing, biomass energy and digital technology.

She emphasized that the forum had reinforced Macau’s place in international green-supply-chain discussions while contributing to the city’s “1+4” diversification strategy.

Satkuru said that, going forward, the next phase would depend on turning the forum’s agreements and technical frameworks into projects that work across producing countries, consumer markets and financial systems.