Resolute Forest Products Issues Sustainability Report for 2011 Performance

MONTREAL, Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) released its Sustainability Report for 2011 Performance today, detailing Company efforts to balance environmental, social and economic considerations. The report also publicly introduces Resolute's first company-wide sustainability strategy which has three primary areas of focus:

• Reinforce Resolute's environmental credentials, taking appropriate steps to responsibly manage its environmental footprint;
• Position the Company as a competitive employer, attracting and retaining employees based on opportunities to quickly learn and grow within a dynamic organization; and
• Build solid community relations in Resolute's operating locations, recognizing that economically viable and civically involved companies support long-term regional prosperity.

"Over the past year, we have worked hard to deliver on the sustainability commitments we have made, and meaningful progress was achieved," said Richard Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer. "As we move forward and implement our new sustainability strategy, we recognize the value of engaging our employees and stakeholders in raising the bar on our sustainability performance."

Resolute's key sustainability accomplishments outlined in the report include:

• Becoming a member in the World Wildlife Fund's prestigious Climate Savers program, which helps companies set and achieve ambitious emission reduction targets. In 2011, the Company reduced its GHG emissions by 6% from 2010 levels, a 62% decrease versus 2000 levels.
• Increasing efforts to certify more Company-managed woodlands operations through the Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC) Sustainable Forest Management standard, leading to the Company becoming the world's largest manager of FSC-certified forests in 2012.
• Creating a management-level sustainability committee which prepared and is responsible for implementing Resolute's new corporate sustainability strategy.
• Completing a major life-cycle assessment of the Company's eco-friendly family of papers in 2011. These papers were launched in 2012 under the Align™ brand name.

New and continuing sustainability commitments for Resolute include:

• Fiber Sourcing: Increasing FSC forest certification of managed forests from 18% in 2010 to 80% by 2015. Resolute has now certified 51% of its forests to FSC standards and continues to progress towards this target.
• Water: Improving the Company's understanding of its water footprint and voluntarily reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project's Water Disclosure program.
• Climate Change: Achieving a 65% absolute reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2015 over the 2000 base year.
• Health and Safety: Achieving an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) incident rate of 1.2 or below in 2012, with a long-term goal of zero incidents, zero injuries.
• Communities: Establishing information-sharing community groups by the end of 2013 at Company operations to further enhance community relations efforts.
• First Nations: Drafting a formal Company policy on First Nations relations in 2012.

Resolute's sustainability report for 2011 performance was prepared using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3.1 guidelines, one of the world's most broadly accepted standards for transparent sustainability reporting. GRI's voluntary reporting guidelines are endorsed by the United Nations Global Compact and used by over 1000 organizations worldwide. Resolute is reporting at the "B" level as defined by GRI guidelines. This is the Company's second GRI-compliant report.

For a copy of the report and for more information on Resolute Forest Products' approach to sustainability, visit the Company's website at www.resolutefp.com/sustainability.

About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The Company owns or operates 22 pulp and paper mills and 22 wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. Marketing its products in more than 90 countries, Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to sustainable forest management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Resolute and other member companies of the Forest Products Association of Canada, as well as a number of environmental organizations, are partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to conservation issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of sustainability linked to human activities: environmental, social and economic. Resolute is also a member of the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, in which businesses establish ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions and work aggressively toward achieving them.

SOURCE RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS INC.