Have you heard about Ikea's latest
scandal?
A new investigation shows the
Swedish furniture giant's relentless demand for cheap wood is
destroying the habitat of lynx and brown bears. Some of
Ikea's best-selling chairs have been traced to illegal
logging in Ukraine's ancient Carpathian forest, one of the
last sanctuaries for these and other endangered species.
Ikea
responded by promising to investigate the timber companies
responsible. But you and I both know that's not
enough.
The problem isn't with a single supplier --
it's with Ikea's never-ending pursuit of fast furniture at
the expense of our planet and climate. Until it radically
overhauls its wood sourcing policy, forests in Ukraine and beyond
will never be truly safe.
That's why you and I need to seize this moment to force
Ikea into action.
Add
your name: Tell Ikea cheap chairs aren't worth the destruction of
our forests!
Ikea is the biggest wood consumer in the world, tearing
through our forests at the rate of one tree per second -- and
growing. Its impact on the planet is so huge, it
can even be seen from space.
Yet it exerts little
oversight over its timber empire, which stretches far beyond Sweden
to Russia and eastern Europe. Instead, it relies on certifiers from
the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to slap a
"sustainable" label on the wood it uses.
It’s not sustainable
-- it’s rampant corporate greed. In the short term,
Ikea must conduct an independent investigation of all of its timber
suppliers in high-risk countries such as Ukraine, Belarus and
Russia, and demand reform of the FSC to ensure its certified wood
truly is sustainable. In the long term, it must set
ambitious targets for phasing out wood from natural forests -- and
eventually, for eliminating the use of virgin wood altogether.
How far this notorious profit hoarder is willing to go depends on
how much public pressure we can put on it. And that depends
on you, Vladimir.
Tell
Ikea to stop supporting deforestation!
I know I can count on SumOfUs members like you to defend
our forests from profit-hungry corporations. Just recently,
after months of ongoing pressure, you forced Pepsi to
overhaul its palm oil sourcing policy and prevent rainforests from
being destroyed for Doritos and other snacks. Hundreds of
thousands of you helped start a shareholder revolution at Yum!
Brands -- owner of Pizza Hut and KFC -- when its bosses failed to
take deforestation seriously.
Now you and I have the
opportunity to tackle the destruction happening in our own backyard.
With your help, Ikea will finally see the forest for the
trees -- and put animals, people and our planet over its
furniture profits.
