People care deeply about how they use their purchasing power to limit harm to people and the planet.
An international timber certification body has removed sustainability claims from its website after environmental campaigners launched a greenwashing complaint with the UK’s advertising watchdog.
Green group Friends of the Earth raised concerns with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) earlier this year after its research into environmental and human rights risks in the supply chains of certified Malaysian timber being sold by British retailers and builders’ merchants.
The report, co-authored by Malaysian think tank RimbaWatch in March, found flawed and ineffective sustainability certification schemes were failing to prevent deforestation, habitat destruction and indigenous rights violations in Peninsula Malaysia.
Revise
The organisations looked into products marketed as sustainable under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS).
The scheme is endorsed by the world’s biggest timber certification body, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), which aims to give consumers and businesses confidence that they are purchasing responsibly sourced timber products.
But according to Friends of the Earth and RimbaWatch’s findings, MTCS-certified timber could still be associated with deforestation, habitat destruction and violations of indigenous people’s rights.
Before launching a complaint with ASA, Friends of the Earth said it reviewed sustainability claims made publicly by PEFC’s British arm and concluded the body could not back up guarantees that timber it has endorsed is free from harm to people and the environment.
The ASA confirmed it had raised the complaint with PEFC, which then agreed to revise its public claims.
Precision
The PEFC UK page on the website previously said the certification “proves that the timber-based products you buy and sell originate from sustainably managed forests, recycled material and other PEFC controlled sources”.
It added: “This means they are good for the environment, people, and the economy.”
It now just reads: “PEFC certification shows that forest and tree-based material has come from PEFC-certified forests or suppliers that have been assessed against applicable PEFC standards.”
The organisation also removed a line that said PEFC standards “respect the rights and traditions of indigenous people”.
John Kirkby, executive director of PEFC UK, said the organisation had updated its website following general guidance from the ASA “to ensure greater clarity and precision in how certification is communicated to consumers”.
Resolved
He added: “PEFC certification provides independent assessment against established forest management and sourcing requirements, including environmental and social safeguards.
“The changes to our website do not constitute acceptance of the allegations made by Friends of the Earth.”
People care deeply about how they use their purchasing power to limit harm to people and the planet.
An ASA spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we received a complaint about a website and two paid-for search ads for the Programme for the Enforcement of Forest Certification UK (PEFC UK).
“The complainant challenged whether claims made in the ads exaggerated the environmental and social benefits of PEFC certification.
“We approached the advertiser about the concerns that had been raised and it agreed to remove the claims without being subject to a formal ruling. On that basis we resolved the case informally.”
Misrepresentations
According to Friends of the Earth and RimbaWatch’s findings, the Indigenous Orang Asli Peoples are not recognised by MTCS or auditors, and their complaints about commercial timber extraction and monoculture expansion degrading natural forest reserves are routinely dismissed.
The report said the certification is also failing to prevent deforestation within certified forests, including large-scale conversion, logging in ecologically sensitive areas, and forest degradation within certified management areas.
It also warned of the environmental impacts of logging in sensitive areas, including destruction of habitats, damage to important forest ecosystems, and threats to wildlife corridors used by the critically endangered Malayan tiger.
The Malaysian Timber Certification Council, which runs the MTCS, questioned the credibility of the report at the time and defended the scheme.
The organisation raised concerns about misrepresentations and how data had been used to draw conclusions, and asked the two groups that “a more responsible factual editing and fact-based approach be applied to the report”.
Deforestation
Nick Rau, corporate accountability campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Many people care deeply about how they use their purchasing power to limit harm to people and the planet, so it’s really important that any sustainability claims about products stack up.
“Clearly, the current systems for certifying wood products are failing, and timber linked to serious harms against communities and the environment is slipping through the cracks.”
Friends of the Earth called on the UK Government to recognise the certification failings it has uncovered and ensure Britain has the right systems in place to prevent harm to people and the environment.
An Environment Department (Defra) spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring UK supply chains do not contribute to illegal deforestation.
“That’s why we’re launching a consultation on strengthening our approach to tackling deforestation for timber and other linked products, and we will consider the report’s findings carefully as part of this work.”
This Author
Rebecca Speare-Cole is the sustainability reporter at Press Association.
