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Complicit in Corruption: How billion-dollar firms and European governments are failing Ukraine's forests
For two years, Earthsight investigated illegal logging and timber corruption in Ukraine and tracked connections to overseas markets.
Complicit in Corruption reveals how illegality permeates the timber supply chain in Ukraine from harvest to export. Field investigations indicate that 40 percent of the timber being produced by the country's state-owned enterprises is illegally cut through the abuse of a loophole allowing trees to be harvested to prevent the spread of disease. -
Ukraine PM announces crackdown on illegal logging and timber corruption
The Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman initiated a crackdown on illegal logging and timber smuggling and appealed to the EU to provide information on imports of timber from the country, following the release of an expose by Earthsight.
"We must stop the illegal flow of goods, I ask all law-enforcers - let's unite and end-all of these schemes." Prime Minister Groysman said, according to the statement posted on the Government's website. -
Fate of Ukraine’s forests hangs in the balance, as new reports confirm the scale of illegal logging and timber corruption
New independent studies from the EU and WWF have been published which confirm Earthsight's findings and support its recommendations. Earthsight has learned that in response to the EU’s findings, a reform strategy has already been drawn up and approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers. These include the separation of the powers of the SAFR, new and independent forestry enforcement, and a radical increase in transparency of forestry-related information. -
Earthsight's report: FLATPÅCKED FÖRESTS
Key Findings of the report:
•Ikea is selling beech chairs made from wood which was illegally felled in the forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians,
•Continued illegal logging to supply Ikea’s bench chairs was even detected by Earthsight during the worldwide Coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown of April 2020,
•Ikea’s wood consumption has doubled in the last decade,
•The illegal wood in Ikea’s bench chairs was FSC-certified,
•FSC’s failures in Ukraine are replicated all over the world -
Ukraine Prime Minister pledges crackdown on illegal logging after Earthsight exposé
Earthsight today welcomed the Prime Minister of Ukraine’s pledged crackdown on illegal logging in the country. Denis Kaplunov, first deputy head of the federal State Environmental Inspectorate(SEI), told Earthsight that criminal proceedings are active against the Velyky Bychkiv state forestry enterprise (SFE). Kaplunov said federal inspectors and local police raided Velyky Bychkiv SFE in mid-June over its logging activities. Inspectors identified “numerous violations” at the forestry enterprise. -
EU and Ukraine authorities urged to ‘systematically reform’ forest sector
A group of leading Ukrainian civil society groups has today led calls for systematic and urgent reform of Ukraine’s forest sector in letters sent to EU and national authorities.
The five NGOs, supported by Earthsight and Swiss non-profit Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), said a lack of political will to implement change has meant almost all Ukrainian wood now entering local and EU markets risks being linked to corruption, illicit deforestation, environmental abuses, or organized crime. -
Sign the petition: Ikea chairs aren't worth the destruction of our natural forests
A petition launched today by SumOfUs, in partnership with Earthsight, adds yet more pressure on Ikea and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to implement serious change following the recent investigation. -
IKEA's statement
"IKEA does not accept illegally logged wood in our products. The results of the 3rd party investigation, facilitated by Legallis LLC, which included visits to the forests sites, and our own internal investigation, carried out by the Wood Supply & Forestry specialist team, showed no indications that illegally logged wood has entered our supply chain." -
Earthsite: "Ikea’s response to its illegal timber scandal is a sham. Here's why"
Six reasons Ikea’s claims cannot be trusted:
•Its ‘independent’ investigations are nothing of the sort
•It won’t share the full results of its investigations
•Decides to interpret law in a way that contradicts Ukrainian government authorities and is worse for the environment
•Scope of investigations is too narrow
•It is silent about FSC ineptitude
•No plans to drastically reduce wood consumption -
Conclusions of the Competent Authorities for the implementation of the European Timber Regulation (EUTR) on the application of Articles 4(2) and 6 of the EUTR to timber imports from Ukraine
The EU has adopted a new guidance document for timber imports from Ukraine. The document was adopted at a meeting of European authorities tasked with enforcing the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). It constitutes formal recognition by EU timber authorities that for Ukraine timber certified by schemes like Forest Stewardship Council will alone not be enough to meet EUTR-prescribed thresholds of "negligible risk" of illegality. -
It’s official: EU says neither FSC nor Ukraine government can guarantee wood is legal
The EU has officially declared that flawed green labeling scheme FSC’s systems are unable to ensure its wood is legal. The decision, which has been over two years in the making, follows reports by Earthsight revealing how wood from illegal cutting and linked to high-level corruption is being greenwashed by FSC, undermining the impact of the EUTR, which is meant to ensure EU consumers don’t unwittingly drive forest destruction through their purchases of wood products.