Henry Sauvagnat
Vice-President, Sustainable Development Cascades Inc.
Henry Sauvagnat has over 25 years experience in launching, expanding and turning around companies in the European, Canadian, American and Far East markets. Specialist in the Pulp and Paper Industry, Henry acquired FSC experience in the last 4 years by launching and managing the French National Initiative. FSC-France required two years of extensive pre-launch discussions with the three chambers to finally register in an aggressive PEFC environment in the spring 2006. As a Contact person and Nominated Agent, Henry asked for a leave of absence from his employer and worked half time for FSC-France. The NI is following a very steep growth curve and has managed to be financially viable. It obtained a grant from the French Government of over a $ 1 million. Satisfied with the turn of events in France, Henry decided to bring his experience to FSCCanada and the FSC Global Carbon Working Group.
Henry has been in the forefront of Climate Change and CO2 accounting and governance taking part in the debate for which he required multi stakeholder consultation from the French Government "Grenelle de l'Environnement" and is now following up this ideal in North America.
Henry Sauvagnat first started in the early 1980s, at Dow Chemical, where he initiated a new sales strategy centered on an industry approach. He then led sales at Penford Products by launching new products and deploying strategies to penetrate new markets, such as in Canada.
In the 1990s, as the head of Forac, an international management consulting firm, Henry Sauvagnat directed merger, acquisition and financing activities for several multinational corporations, including Nokia, Saint-Gobain and Kemira.
In 1996, after obtaining $200 million in startup project-financing, he cofounded Greenfield, France's largest new high-tech company specializing in paper recycling, and pre-sold 80% of production totaling $360 million with long-term guaranteed pricing arrangements. He first sold the Company to Cascades in Canada in 2002.
He joined FSC International in 2005 and became founder and President of FSC-France in 2006.
In 2008, he sold Greenfield to Arjo Wiggins where he worked for one year as Vice- President of Corporate Affairs, Sales and Marketing before moving to Canada on December 31rst 2008.
Since January 5, 2009 he is Vice-President Sustainable Development for Cascades Inc. where he is putting to contribution his experience in LCA and Climate Change. Henry Sauvagnat holds several degrees: an MBA from Syracuse University, an LSc in Mathematics from Collège Stanislas in Paris, a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wyoming, and a BCom and management diploma from McGill University.
