Hundreds of Companies Set to Miss 2020 Deadline to End Deforestation in Supply Chains

September 23, 2019

A Coalition of NGOs calls for companies to act with greater urgency amid the climate crisis

New York, NY – Today, an international coalition of dozens of NGOs and labor unions including Amazon Watch, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and Oxfam, among many others, released an open letter to hundreds of companies in the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), calling out the CGF companies for not doing enough to meet commitments made to cut deforestation out of company supply chains by 2020. The bulk of companies made the ‘No Deforestation’ commitments ten years ago, and with 2020 fast approaching, the companies will inevitably miss the deadline. Read the full letter here.

In response to the letter, NGO leaders made the following statements:

Lindsey Allen, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), said:

“Ten years ago, a commitment to end corporate-fueled deforestation was commendable. But ten years of inaction, half-measures and greenwashing is deplorable. We have an increasingly narrow window of time to take real action on the growing climate emergency. The executives of these CGF companies live on this same Earth and for the sake of our collective future, they can’t afford to wait any longer than anyone else can.”

Jeff Conant, Senior International Forests Program Manager with Friends of the Earth U.S., said:

“The climate crisis is fully upon us and the more forests fall, the worse it will get. Agribusiness and consumer goods companies that are the number one cause of forest destruction have spent a decade making hollow commitments while continuing to profit from the devastation. Now they’re asking for more time. There is no more time.”

Edi Sutrisno, Deputy Director, TuK Indonesia, said:

“We’re seeing in the Amazon and in Indonesia the way that corporate money drives illegal deforestation, forest fires and the theft of Indigenous land. For a liveable future, these companies must make good on their promises and cut deforestation, land grabs and human rights abuses out of their supply chains immediately.”

Contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]