

An ICIJ Investigation
Deforestation Inc.
An ICIJ-led cross-border investigation exposes how a lightly regulated sustainability industry overlooks forest destruction and human rights violations when granting environmental certifications.

CONFLICT WOOD
Western firms certified as socially responsible trade in Myanmar teak linked to the military regime
By Scilla Alecci
March 2, 2023
THE AUDITORS
How auditing giant KPMG became a global sustainability leader while serving companies accused of forest destruction
By Scilla Alecci
March 1, 2023
- Environmental auditing and certification programs intended to promote responsible forestry and other social goals worldwide frequently validate products linked to deforestation, logging in conflict zones and other harmful activity.
- In the last two decades, dozens of environmental auditors certified as “sustainable” the products and operations of more than 340 forest-product companies that were later accused of environmental crimes or other wrongdoing by local communities, advocates and government agencies.
- Western governments’ efforts to stop the trade of wood logged in conflict zones such as Myanmar are failing, allowing authoritarian regimes to finance their violent rule.
- At the same time, certification firms allow companies at the center of such trade to hold sustainability certificates, providing the public with misleading assurances as to a product’s origins.
THE AUDITORS

Aug 01, 2023
Accounting firms accused of ‘operating with impunity’ as regulator flags growing number of flawed audits
Behind the scenes

Jul 05, 2023
From US pellet mills to jungles in India, behind the scenes of Deforestation Inc. reporting
Deforestation Inc.

Jun 30, 2023
How Russia’s timber trade is sidestepping the EU’s Ukraine war sanctions
IMPACT

Jun 05, 2023
Government probe into Canadian forestry giant intensifies as company’s owner evades public scrutiny
IMPACT

May 23, 2023
New Justice Department-led task force pledges global crackdown on illegal timber trade
IMPACT

May 12, 2023
Malaysian environmental auditing scheme under scrutiny for ignoring labor violations
IMPACT
