Montreux, 10 December 2015 As General Secretary of BWI, the worlds largest global union federation of forest, wood, and construction workers, it is an honour to address your assembly. Since the beginning, BWI has been a proud partner with PEFC. As the focal point for Agenda 21 forest workers within the UN structure and as the representative for 15 million workers who depend on Sustainable Forest Management and Sustainable Forest products for their livelihoods, I congratulate you for what you have achieved / and for what lies ahead. As to the future, there appears to be the beginning of an international consensus. It can be seen in terms of how quickly the nations of the world accepted the Sustainable Development goals. It can be seen in the commonality of the public pronouncements / of both the Islamic and Catholic religions, / and of course it can be seen at the discussions at Climate Change Conference in Paris. Lets first look at the basic concepts of this consensus / and then the challenges and opportunities it presents for forests / and those who manage and live in them. The emerging consensus has five parts. They are: