Weyerhaeuser and Travis Perkins are among the companies taking most care to ensure they don’t contribute to tropical deforestation, according to the first report from the Forest Footprint Disclosure project (FFD).
Launched last year, the UK government-backed FFD aims to highlight to businesses and their investors how their activities and the products they use, including timber, can be implicated in deforestation.
It sent a questionnaire to 217 companies worldwide, quizzing them on procurement policies for tropical forest-sourced products and materials most associated with damaging forestry practice. Besides timber, these “forest risk commodities” included palm oil, soy, beef, leather and biofuel.
The questionnaire covered whether companies risk-assessed supply chains, checked on forest governance in supplier countries, insisted on third-party eco certification and had chain of custody.
The FFD report is based on the 35 responses received.
Weyerhaeuser was judged best performer in the ‘industrials’ sector, and Travis Perkins “highly commended” in the same category. Also best in class were Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury, and Mondi from the UK, L‚Oreal of France and the Netherlands’ Reed Elsevier.
The report also names companies that refused to answer the questionnaire, or did not respond. But director Tracey Campbell said the FFD is not “lambasting poor performers”.
“We want to prevent deforestation by encouraging procurement best practice,” she told TTJ.
As this was its first questionnaire, the FFD was not discouraged by receiving just 35 responses and expects more to the next one this summer.
Weyerhaeuser’s Cassie Phillips said the company was pleased with its FFD ranking and will encourage more US companies to participate in the initiative.
“Consumers should be confident in buying forest products that they’re not driving poor forestry practice, let alone deforestation,” she told TTJ.
To take part in the FFD initiative tel: 01865 240 090; or email: info@forestdisclosure.com.
