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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.
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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
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Accountability
New investigation casts doubt on a Singapore-listed palm oil giant’s green claims
By Scilla Alecci
November 20, 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.
ACCOUNTABILITY
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Mar 19, 2024
An ‘anonymous’ company secretly linked to an Indonesian billionaire is destroying Borneo’s rainforests, environmentalists say
PARTNER STORIES
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Mar 05, 2024
EU efforts to slow the influx of illegal Russian timber marred by poor enforcement
Greenwashing
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Dec 21, 2023
As regulators clamp down on forest destruction, conservationists flag greenwashing concerns
MONEY LAUNDERING
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Jun 28, 2024
Panama Papers trial concludes with all defendants acquitted of money laundering
IMPACT
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