After more than a decade working with the Environmental Paper Network, Peg Putt has decided to retire at the end of the year. A valued colleague and inspiring campaigner, Peg will be missed at EPN, however she assures us that she’ll remain engaged and active by continuing on in an advisory role on EPN International’s Steering Committee.
In this blog, we’d like to celebrate Peg and her contribution to EPN during her time with us. In particular, we’d like to acknowledge her instrumental role in helping to initiate EPN’s work on biomass energy and ensuring that this threat to forests became a focus of the organisation, alongside EPN’s longstanding work on the pulp and paper industry.
“Working with Peg in recent years has been an honour for me. I don’t think I have ever met anyone more determined and effective, who has devoted so much of their life to the good of nature, the climate and people.”~ Augustyn Mikos, EPN-International
What was initially known as EPN’s “Biomass Working Group”, was born out of a joint Environmental Paper Network and Forest Movement Europe event in 2018 in Estonia. The growing threat of the biomass industry was a hot topic as an increasing number of campaigners were realising that burning biomass for energy was a huge problem, however the issue wasn’t being properly covered by any existing networks. Peg and others ensured that the Environmental Paper Network stepped up to the challenge, by offering to fulfill this role. A defining “Position Statement” was drafted, aptly named the “Biomass Delusion Statement”, which articulated the shared vision of the working group.
“One of my key memories of Peg is when I first met her at an FME meeting. As the name says, the FME (Forest Movement Europe) is primarily focused on Europe, but she flew half way around the world to make sure that a plan for a pulp mill in Tasmania was at the top of our agenda. And sure enough, she mobilized everyone to write to banks and buyers, asking them to block the mill, and eventually the project was cancelled! It was really inspiring to see her build a movement so quickly. Something she also did, at a much larger scale, when she became a core founder of BAN. She was very visionary in picking up on an issue almost no one was talking about, and major NGOs were actually promoting. But with persistent, science based campaigning, BAN has managed to largely shift the narrative in many important spaces.” ~ Merel van der Mark, EPN International Steering Committee
Beginning with a handful of signatories to the Biomass Delusion Statement, the Biomass Working Group grew rapidly under Peg’s guidance, as did the biomass team at EPN – testimony to the need for a central forum allowing NGOs working on biomass issues to coordinate their efforts. To reflect its expanding global reach, BAN set up working groups across multiple regions in order to nurture and support emerging campaigns and share knowledge and skills between its members.
“I’ve been working with Peg for the best part of 5 years and, despite living on opposite sides of the world and operating in entirely different time zones, Peg’s easy manner and warm personality have always been able to transcend this distance. I especially admire the spirit of camaraderie that she brings to the Biomass Action Network as well as the EPN team. I am really going to miss speaking to her almost every day, as she always has a story to share and something interesting to say!” ~ Sophie Bastable – Co-coordinator of BAN
Since its humble beginnings, the biomass working group has evolved into what is now known as the Biomass Action Network – a network in its own right involving more than 200 NGOs across 70 countries campaigning to stop the proliferation of the biomass energy industry. Through its various permutations, Peg has been there – a consistent and fierce advocate for forest protection against false climate solutions like biomass energy. She spearheaded the development of BAN’s work at the international policy level through the creation of a COP Biomass Taskforce, attending several UNFCCC events around the world to ensure that the issue was brought to the attention of policy makers.
“Peg combines the instincts of a campaigner with procedural acumen stemming from her career as a legislator. And under all that is a deep understanding of the climate and forest sciences. Those campaigner and legislator skills come together particularly in the arcane international fora tasked with developing carbon counting systems, where industry often has its thumb on the scale. It’s always entertaining watching Peg go toe-to-toe with negotiators, industry reps, or IPCC bureau members, making her case in the politest possible way. She’s helped move us beyond acceptance of the accounting rules that have been in place essentially since the late 1990s, rules that have been a barrier to understanding the critical importance of long-term forest conservation. And she’s inspired others in Australia and abroad to keep pushing on that mission.” ~ Peter Riggs, Director – Pivot Point (Washington, US)
Peg is someone who sees the big picture and her work to create a global biomass threat map, showing the flow of biomass from producing countries to consuming ones, has served as a crucial tool for the network, allowing NGOs to identify areas for much needed collaboration and solidarity action. She has supported and mentored biomass campaigners around the world and helped NGOs from very different contexts to find common ground and work together towards shared goals.
“Not just a Tasmanian treasure, but an international sentinel, Peg has been a stand-out champion for the world’s forests over countless decades, inspiring and nurturing younger generations to stand tall for our forests. Her global leadership taking on the biomass threat cannot be overstated and the international campaign is stronger thanks to her. Peg’s legacy is not just in helping protect the world’s forests, it’s the sharing of a vision of a better world for all of us and the wild plants and animals that call it home.” ~ Luke Chamberlain, Environmental Justice Australia (Victoria, Australia)
Although the time has come for Peg to take more time for herself and family as she is now in her early seventies, luckily for us, this is not goodbye forever. There is a lot of forest to fight for in her native Tasmania and we won’t be at all surprised if we bump into her at a forest gathering again one day in the future!
Thank you, Peg — for your courage, your generosity, and the movement you helped build!