Held on Monday (15 June), in association with WWF-UK, the event highlighted the complexity of green issues and the role of the domestic market.

Chaired by journalist and broadcaster Peter Day, WWF manager UK forest and trade network Julia Young began the event by discussing paper's high carbon and water footprint.

She said: "WWF has a vision that pulp and paper should no longer cause significant habitat conversion or biodiversity loss.

"Our goals are to have zero loss of conservation values due to pulp production."

After the event, she said: "The positive aspects need to be highlighted by the industry," she said. "People are doing a lot of good work but it all needs to be brought together in a cohesive way."

One panel member Bob Latham, sustainability director at Paperlinx Europe, predicted the impact of e-media on paper usage would become increasingly apparent. He said it was the task of the people attending the event to re-value paper.

Another issue discussed at the event was the industry's ability to work co-operatively with NGOs.

Latham said: "This is by far the best means to achieve better consensus on what constitutes responsible sourcing, print conversion, consumption and disposal.

"This includes the shifting of central print to domestic output printers, to the realisation that e-media has a huge energy profile."

Neil Charlesworth, executive chairman of the Charlesworth Group, said, as expected, a lot was heard about the domestic market.

However, he said: "The true problem is within the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies where there is excess of 3 billion people, and their governments' intention is to educate them and bring demand for paper up to the level of the West."

Charlesworth said it was good that the Chinese were active in conservation areas and that they had good intentions.

"However, those of us who have experience of China are aware that the aims of central government are sometimes difficult to replicate across the country," he added.