NRDC Report: How Retailers are Selling Forest Destruction 

WASHINGTON — U.S. retailers are failing their customers and the planet by selling toilet paper, paper towels, and other goods sourced from climate-critical forests, according to a new NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) report. Selling the World’s Forests details how top retailers neglect to stock store shelves with the numerous available sustainably-made options. 

“Even when consumers want to vote with their dollars for sustainable goods, all too often retailers don’t carry them, depriving people of the opportunity to choose the products they want in their homes,” said Ashley Jordan, corporate campaign advocate at NRDC and author of the report. “Retailers need to step up and provide access to truly sustainable products for their shoppers, because how can you vote for something that’s not even on the ballot?” 

The logging industry clearcuts millions of acres of forests each year in part to make the ultimate disposable, single-use items: toilet paper, facial tissues and paper towels. In its annual Issue with Tissue report, NRDC has documented the way Procter & Gamble and other companies do harm by making and selling products made almost entirely of forest fibers.   

But this new report shows that the market is shifting, and investors, policymakers, and consumers alike are demanding that retailers take responsibility for their part in securing a livable future for our planet and curbing the mounting financial risk presented by a business-as-usual approach to forests. Globally, about 250 million acres of net forest area have been lost—and likely an even larger area degraded—over the past two decades, the majority of which can be tied to the production of just a handful of global commodities that end up in a range of consumer goods. 

Selling the World’s Forests provides a series of case studies highlighting retailers that are profiting from destructive commodities and the resulting financial risk posed to shareholders. For example, brands linked to environmental and human rights abuses in Indonesia are still available at informed major retailers like Home Depot, Kroger, Lowe’s, and Walmart.  The report goes on to spotlight pioneering shareholder actions at companies like Procter & Gamble, Costco, Home Depot, and Lowe’s that reflect growing concerns in the investment community around forest- and climate-related impacts. 

“Retailers are lining their shelves with products that are devastating climate-critical forests, like Charmin and Bounty which are made from nearly 100 percent forest fiber; meanwhile, they’re leaving sustainable alternatives out of their stores,” Jordan said. “But driven by groundbreaking regulatory policies and trailblazing shareholder actions, the landscape is changing, meaning there’s no better time for retailers to meet their responsibilities to their investors, consumers and the planet.” 

Selling the World’s Forests charts a course of action for retailers to take to avoid fueling deforestation, forest degradation, and associated human rights abuses in both their direct supply chains and those of the products they sell. Recommendations for retailers include: 

• Consider alternatives to forest-risk commodities  
• Adopt commitments to ‘No Deforestation, No Peatland, and No Exploitation’ (NDPE) and no forest degradation across all forest-risk commodity supply chains, including mandatory requirements for all suppliers to adopt these policies.  
• Require that all suppliers that provide forest-risk commodities used in private-label products and those manufactured by brands obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples who could be impacted by their operations.  
• Establish and implement a zero-tolerance policy for attacks or threats against environmental and human rights defenders and require the same for all brands they sell.  
• Account and set targets for reducing its Scope 3 emissions, including those associated with the products it sells.  
• Publish an annual forest footprint disclosure and require the same for all brands they sell.  
• Establish clear, transparent, and accessible grievance mechanisms, including protocols for addressing supplier or brand noncompliance.  
• Actively engage with civil society stakeholders (including environmental NGOs) to inform company policy development and implementation and help ensure alignment with accepted best practices. 
• Support public policies that set standards for responsible forest sourcing.  
   

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).