Deforestation Inc

OVERVIEW

Environmental auditors approve green labels for products linked to deforestation and authoritarian regimes

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

By Scilla Alecci

Mar 01, 2023

CONFLICT WOOD

Western firms certified as socially responsible trade in Myanmar teak linked to the military regime

By Scilla Alecci

Mar 02, 2023

THE AUDITORS

How auditing giant KPMG became a global sustainability leader while serving companies accused of forest destruction

By Scilla Alecci

Mar 01, 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.

Latest news

Two men load logs onto a tractor in a Myanmar sawmill.

May 23, 2023

New Justice Department-led task force pledges global crackdown on illegal timber trade

A close-up of a sign that says PEFC attached to a cut-down tree

May 12, 2023

Malaysian environmental auditing scheme under scrutiny for ignoring labor violations

IMPACT

Apr 24, 2023

EU bans import of deforestation-linked goods

DATA JOURNALISM

Apr 19, 2023

How we used data to expose flaws in hundreds of green claims by forest products companies

Mar 29, 2023

Reporters share behind-the-scenes stories from Deforestation Inc.

Mar 23, 2023

Companies making false ‘green’ claims in Europe face punishment under proposed new rule

Watch: How green labels can hide environmental harm

Deforestation Inc. uncovers how companies in the forest-products industry have violated environmental laws even while auditing firms certified their products as “sustainable.”