Podchat 15 | Greenwashing and Misleading Sustainability Certifications in Forestry with Peter Wood

Have you ever seen those slick little certification logos on a product that claims it comes from sustainable forestry practices? Unfortunately, those certifications aren’t those most ethical, accurate, and in some cases are just downright bogus, and may not truly reflect the logging practices used to obtain that wood.

Peter Wood is a campaigner for Canopy Planet, as well as an adjunct professor at the UBC Faculty of Forestry and a consultant for organizations such as Ecojustice. With greenwashing being so prevalent these days, our forest products are no different, so I sat down with Peter to chat all about the nuances of these false certifications, how they came to be, current legal challenges, and what you can do to help create a better marketplace for ethically sourced wood products.

Links & Resources from this episode:
EcoJustice legal challenges:
Against the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (e.g. certified a large proportion of Canadian forestry, including all BC Timber Sales) (November 2022)

This letter was sent by Canada’s consulate to New York State Senators in response to their proposed Deforestation-Free Procurement Act. The letter argues that "widespread use of third-party forest management certification...provides added assurance that a forest company is operating legally, sustainably and in compliance with world-recognized standards for sustainable forest management”.

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Produced & Directed by Ross Reid

~ I'd like to acknowledge that this video was filmed on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations. ~

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[Climate.Realist]

Hi Ross, thanks for that amazing episode. Super interesting and I really like that it's a more global view on that issue. Helps not only the folks in the North America but also us in Europe to decide for which products to go for.

Loved it! The quality of content you're pushing out here is insane.

[EmmaMarin-by]

Wonderful interview. Is there anywhere that I can read Peters disertation and publications?