Avrim Lazar is President & CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada since January 1, 2002. He is also chair of the private sector advisory committee to the United Nations on the global forest industry. (www.fpac.ca)

He is well-known in Canada and internationally for his capacity to help groups find common purpose and his ability to speak in a way that inspires, motivates and encourages his audiences to open their minds to new ways of seeing the world. Mr. Lazar has held senior policy positions in the government of Canada in the Ministries of Justice, Agriculture, Environment and Human Resource Development. During this period he was responsible for national policy in areas as diverse as climate change, biodiversity, child poverty, employment insurance and labour force training.

Mr. Lazar has Chaired the Committee of the Whole of the Second UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (1995), the National Business Association Roundtable and the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA).