June 20, 2005
Published by CPAWS - Edmonton Chapter (www.cpaws-edmonton.org)
1. Canadian boreal forest campaign heats up in the United States — Victoria ’s Secret targeted at annual shareholders meeting
Victoria’s Secret’s environmental negligence was spotlighted today at the annual shareholder meeting of its parent company, Limited Brands. At issue are the one million catalogs that the company mails daily on paper that comes mainly from Canadian boreal forests, rather than recycled content. Representing Alberta conservation groups active in Alberta’s Foothills, Rebecca Reeves spoke at the meeting. She asked the company to encourage West Fraser Timber Ltd., one of their pulp suppliers, to not log in the Bighorn Country and Little Smoky Endangered Forests of west-central Alberta and to commit to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all their holdings in the Foothills.
2. JP Morgan Chase joins effort to save Endangered Forests
Rainforest Action Network today commended JP Morgan Chase on its adoption of a comprehensive environmental policy which sets new best practices for the environment in several critical areas, including Endangered Forest protection and independently certified sustainable forestry. It is the first policy of its kind in the financial sector acknowledging “No Go Zones”, a major step forward in the effort to protect ecosystems that are most valuable intact. The new policy marks another environmental milestone in the private financial sector and follows the adoption of similar policies by Citigroup and Bank of America last year. JP Morgan Chase is the first private bank to state a preference for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.
3. More failing grades as governments are scored on environmental performance
In the 13th annual release of the RIO Report Card, Sierra Club of Canada handed out a set of tough marks for progress, and lack of progress, on issues from toxic chemicals and pesticides, to endangered species and climate change. The provincial governments had some star pupils, with solid performance in all subjects -- PEI, Newfoundland/Labrador and Quebec -- while New Brunswick and Nova Scotia made progress in protecting biodiversity. Meanwhile, Alberta and British Columbia are held back another year, coming in with Fs in all categories.
4. Hundreds protest Canada's forest destruction at global forest summit
Hundreds of concerned citizens and activists from across Canada and the United States rallied today outside the Global Forest and Paper Summit to demand more forest protection and a shift to ecosystem-based logging practices for all of Canada's endangered forests and endangered species habitat. Demonstrators, dressed as caribou, salmon, and bears, highlighted the discrepancy between the summit's message of sustainability and the ongoing widespread forest destruction occurring across Canada.
See below for full text articles. Past issues available at:
www.cpaws-edmonton.org/Info/boreal_news.htm
Boreal Market News is a publication of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Edmonton Chapter. Our intent is to provide information to decision makers on new developments in forest management, focusing on changing market forces. For more information or to be added or removed from the mailing list contact the Editor, Helene Walsh, at: [email protected]
1a. Concern for Alberta’s Foothills raised at Victoria’s Secret AGM: Company asked not to buy from Endangered Forests
Press release, ForestEthics, Sierra Club of Canada, Bighorn Wildlands Coalition, May 16, 2005
EDMONTON: Representing a local coalition and Alberta conservation groups active in Alberta’s Foothills, Rebecca Reeves will speak at the annual shareholders meeting of Victoria Secret’s parent company, Limited Brands, in Columbus, Ohio today. She will make a statement on the urgent need for parks, restoration efforts and other legislated protected areas in the public Forest Reserves of Alberta’s most southerly extension of the Canadian Boreal, known as the Foothills Natural Region. She’ll ask the company to encourage West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., one of their pulp suppliers, to not log in the Bighorn Country and Little Smoky Endangered Forests of west-central Alberta and to commit to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all their holdings in the Foothills.
West Fraser, which in Alberta owns Hinton Pulp and Wood Products (formerly Weldwood) and Sundre Forest Products (formerly Sunpine), supplies about a quarter of the pulp used in the 395 million catalogues Victoria’s Secret sends out annually. Their road and logging plans extend into two of the three endangered forests identified by provincial and international conservation groups for the 94,790 sq km Foothills region. The two being logged by West Fraser are Bighorn Country located west of Sundre and Nordegg, adjacent the Rocky Mountains of Banff and Jasper National Parks, and Little Smoky, located in the Hinton and Grande Cache region, extending northeastward from the Rocky Mountains of Willmore Wilderness and Jasper National Parks. They also obtain chips from the third, the Kakwa, located southwest of Grande Prairie. (See map on background page.)
“The presence of a representative from the Alberta conservation community at this meeting is a positive sign that there is an international understanding of the link between American paper consumption and the loss of Foothills forests and wildlife in Alberta,” says Reeves. “With less than 2% of the Foothills protected in any type of park, and with new logging and oil and gas development slated for the last remaining wildlands in the next year, immediate action needs to be taken to restore and protect these natural treasures.”
“This area is critical for Woodland Caribou and Grizzly Bear, both species undergoing Recovery Plans by the Alberta Government. It also contains key habitat for many bird species, furbearers and other carnivores such as Wolverine and Wolf,” added Glen Semenchuk, Executive Director of the Federation of Alberta Naturalists.
In response to the “Victoria’s Dirty Secret” campaign by the environmental group ForestEthics, the company has stated that they are interested in doing the right thing. However their intentions have yet to yield results in Alberta. “Customers don’t want to buy products whose production is helping to wipe out local caribou and grizzly populations” said Tzeporah Berman from ForestEthics. “At the Annual General Meeting today, we’re telling Victoria’ s Secret and their investors to make sure their suppliers stop logging endangered forests in Alberta’s Foothills or else move their business elsewhere.”
For More Information: See www.bighorncountry.org
Rebecca Reeves, phone 780 913-9375, Alberta representative at meeting, Edmonton, Alberta.
Lane Moore, phone 403 722-3053, Bighorn Country Wildlands Coalition, Caroline, Alberta.
Dianne Pachal, phone 403 234-7368, Sierra Club of Canada, Alberta Wilderness Director.
Rocky Notnes, phone 780 865-2081, Little Smoky Candidate Protected Area, Hinton, Alberta.
Tzeporah Berman, phone 250 935-0061, cell 604-313-4713, Program Director, ForestEthics.
Victoria Secret’s paper – Turning Canadian Boreal wildlands & wildlife into pulp
It is estimated that about 25% of the pulp for Victoria Secret’s catalogues comes from endangered forests in the Canadian Boreal region, including that coming from the Bighorn Country and Little Smoky Endangered Forests through West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd’s logging companies located in west-central Alberta. Rather than using recycled content, a million catalogues are mailed daily on paper that was forests, wilderness and key wildlife habitat in the Canadian Boreal.
The Foothills – Where the Boreal meets to Rocky Mountains
The Foothills Natural Region is a biological mixing bowel, where the northern Boreal Forest meets the Rocky Mountains. Thus it has a spectacular diversity of plants, animals and landscapes. It is classified as an endangered natural region because most of it has been transformed by industrial roads, logging and oil and gas development. Less than 2% of it is protected in any type of park. It is home to endangered species such as Mountain and Woodland Caribou, Bull Trout and Grizzly Bear, as well as communities that rely on waters flowing from it and businesses that rely on an intact natural environment.
Forest Stewardship Council Certification
Founded in 1993, FSC is an internationally recognized set of standards for the environmentally appropriate, economically viable and socially beneficial management of forests and the industrial practices within them. It is the only certification for wood products that is endorsed by groups form the industry, First Nations, social justice and environmental sectors. FSC certified wood products is preferred by and has the support of retailers such as Home Depot, IKEA and many others. Designation of parks and application of the internationally recognized FSC standard of sustainable forestry practices is the best hope for forest industry and ecological values to co-exist in the Foothills.
1b. Canadian Boreal Forests Campaign Heats Up in United States — Victoria’s Secret Targeted at Annual Shareholders Meeting
Press Release, ForestEthics, May 16, 2005
Columbus, Ohio – Victoria’s Secret’s environmental negligence was spotlighted today at the annual shareholder meeting of its parent company, the Limited Brands. At issue are the one million catalogs that the company mails daily on paper that comes mainly from Canadian Boreal forests, rather than recycled content. The average person on the company’s mailing list receives 24 catalogs every year – one every two weeks. Approximately 25% of Victoria’s Secret’s paper comes from Endangered Forests in the Great Canadian Boreal such as those in the Foothills region of Alberta.
Todd Paglia, Executive Director of ForestEthics, spoke inside at the shareholder meeting, where he reaffirmed his campaign’s message, “Victoria’s Secret mails more than one million catalogs every day – and the impacts on forests and the people and wildlife that depend upon them are staggering. We are calling on Victoria’s Secret to start taking responsibility for its environmental impacts immediately.”
Outside the meeting, shareholders were greeted by protestors exposing Victoria’s Secret forest destruction. Approximately 30 demonstrators held signs, large puppets, and a banner that read, “Victoria’s Dirty Secret: Forest Destruction.”
“Victoria’s Secret is destroying the Canadian Boreal, a global treasure, for its catalogs,” said Tzeporah Berman of ForestEthics. “We’re at the Annual General Meeting to tell shareholders to get Victoria’s Secret to act on its values and do the right thing for future generations. It needs to move from intention to action and get its suppliers to protect endangered forests like those found in Alberta’s Foothills.”
Over the weekend, ForestEthics projected a 30-foot tall ‘Light Mural’ exposing the company’s devastating environmental practices. The light mural, which was projected at the Wexner center for the Arts and other public locations in Columbus, included visuals of models holding chainsaws, clear-cuts in the endangered Boreal forests of Alberta’s Foothills region supplying fiber to Victoria Secret catalogs, and text saying: “Victoria has a dirty secret: forest destruction.”
The Boreal forests of Alberta’s Foothills region, supply approximately a quarter of the fiber going into Victoria’s Secret’s catalog paper. The Canadian Boreal forest, stretching from Alaska to the Atlantic contains 25% of the world’s remaining intact, road-less forests, and the region supports some of the world’s largest populations of wildlife, including grizzlies, wolves, woodland caribou and lynx. It is also the nesting ground for a third (3-5 billion) of our continent’s songbirds. Additionally, the Boreal holds more freshwater that any other place on earth. The Alberta Foothills region is a rare and unique Boreal forest region of which less than 2% is legally protected.
The ongoing campaign against Victoria’s Secret has included hundreds of peaceful demonstrations across the country, an advertisement in The New York Times, and coverage in national news outlets including CNN, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Today show.
The campaign demands are as follows:
- End purchases from any company that is not identifying and halting logging in endangered forests in the Canadian Boreal;
- Maximize post-consumer recycled content in catalogs (Achieve 50% post-consumer recycled in five years);
- Ensure that all suppliers are shifting to Forest Stewardship Council certification;
- End the use of any forest products sourced from other endangered forests, such as key areas of the Southern U.S.
- Reduce paper use
For more information, photos of demonstrations and the forests being destroyed by Victoria’s Secret, and copies of the ad campaign, visit www.VictoriasDirtySecret.net.
ForestEthics protects endangered forests by transforming the paper and wood industries in North America and by supporting forest communities in the development of conservation-based economies. Visit www.ForestEthics.org for more information.
1c. Press statement post AGM
ForestEthics, May 16, 2005
Earlier today in Columbus Ohio, ForestEthics’ Executive Director Todd Paglia confronted shareholders at the annual meeting of the Limited Brands, Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, about the vast disparity between the company’s values-driven philosophy and the destructive nature of its environmental practices. At issue is Victoria’s Secret’s devastating catalogue business. Victoria’s Secret mails more than 395 million catalogues annually, predominately on paper made from forests, rather than recycled paper. In fact, approximately 25% of the paper in the company’s catalogues comes directly from the Endangered Forests in Canada’s Boreal.
After the shareholder meeting, two Limited Brands executives met with Mr. Paglia to review the concerns and demands of the ForestEthics campaign against Victoria’s Secret. “Victoria’s Secret has indicated that it wants to do the right thing for the environment. The ForestEthics campaign will continue to escalate until this intention is turned into action,” stated Mr. Paglia.
Rebecca Reeves, a spokesperson from Alberta, Canada, which is where some of Victoria’s Secret’s paper comes from, spoke at the shareholder meeting as a representative of local Alberta residents and several grassroots organizations in Alberta. “I have personally seen the destruction, waste and pollution that logging leaves behind. The thought of these regions meeting the same fate, just for catalogues, will be impossible for me to explain to my grandchildren. The leaders of your company have this incredible opportunity to shape the future of these majestic forests as your decisions influence the fate of the trees and the animals that rely on them standing. The time to act is now. I encourage you to take an honorable leadership role in conservation and sustainability, which will be recognized internationally, and where the benefits will last forever.”
2. JPMorgan Chase Joins Effort To Save Endangered Forests And Stop Global Warming
Press Release, Rainforest Action Network, April 24, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO - Rainforest Action Network today commended JPMorgan Chase on its adoption of a comprehensive environmental policy to address the challenges of global warming and deforestation and recognize the rights of indigenous nations.
The policy sets new best practices on the environment in several critical areas including carbon mitigation and reduction, endangered forest protection, independently certified sustainable forestry as well as land and consultation rights of native communities everywhere. It is the first policy of its kind in the financial sector to create a special heading acknowledging “No Go Zones,” a major step forward in the effort to protect ecosystems that are most valuable intact and untouched by industry.
Developed in cooperation with groups including Rainforest Action Network, the new policy marks another environmental milestone in the private financial sector and follows the adoption of similar policies by Citigroup and Bank of America last year. Major advances include:
- Global Warming: JPMorgan Chase will encourage clients to develop carbon mitigation plans that include measurement and disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions as well as plans to reduce or offset them. In a financial industry first, the bank will internalize carbon pollution for power sector projects by integrating the financial cost of greenhouse gas emissions into its analysis.
- Sustainable Forestry Certification: The policy makes JPMorgan Chase the first private bank to state a preference for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.
- Illegal Logging: The policy will require JPMorgan Chase clients that “process, purchase or trade” forest products from high-risk countries to have certifiable chain of custody systems in place to ensure that the wood comes from legal sources.
- Human Rights: The bank recognizes the right of indigenous individuals and communities to “self determination over issues affecting their lands and territories, traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used.”
- Project Finance: JPMorgan Chase joins the Equator Principles, lowers the application threshold to $10 million, and broadens the scope to include “all loans, debt and equity underwriting, financial advisories and project-linked derivative transactions,” specifically naming the mining, forestry, and oil and gas industries.
- Private Equity Risk Management: The policy marks the first time that any financial institution has integrated environmental risk management into the due diligence process for its private equity divisions.
- Leadership on Public Policy: In another industry first, JPMorgan Chase has agreed to arrange cooperative meetings with other financial institutions to advocate for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and “focus on specific projects to alter the emissions trajectory of the US economy.”
Supporting statements:
“Today, JPMorgan Chase joins a growing community of business leaders who are taking their first steps to address global climate change, forest destruction, and human rights violations,” said Ilyse Hogue, director of the Global Finance Campaign at Rainforest Action Network. “This move represents a tipping point in the private financial sector, where the three largest banks have now publicly recognized that a sound long-term economic strategy relies on embracing environmental sustainability. The rest of the commercial and investment banks need to taker larger strides to confront their role in the environmental crisis facing us.”
"One of Wall Street's most trusted names is taking action to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions,” said Jon Sohn, Sr., an associate at the World Resources Institute. “We hope JPMorgan's stance will drive other financial institutions to curb their pollution and protect themselves from the very real business risks of global warming. WRI applauds JPMorgan's leadership demonstrated today with the release of their Sustainability Commitment. JPMorgan's commitments are a tremendous step towards harnessing financial markets to expand economic opportunity and protect the environment. The commitments made by JPMorgan reflect an exciting trend by financial institutions to develop and adopt a new generation of rules to assess the risks posed by climate, biodiversity and social impacts on their portfolios and on individual investments in companies or projects."
"We want to congratulate RAN and JPMorgan Chase on reaching this agreement which will have a significant impact on the relationship between the financial service sector and the responsible management of the world's forests,” said Roger Dower, president of the Forest Stewardship Council in the United States. “We set high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way, and we appreciate the recognition of FSC in this agreement as a vital tool for forest certification and conservation."
"Over the past several years, a coalition of some institutional shareholders of J.P. Morgan Chase have asked the bank to consider the environmental risks of projects it finances,” said Steve Lippman, vice president of social research at Trillium Asset Management. “We welcome the new leadership policies the bank announced today. J.P. Morgan joins a growing number of large banks in the U.S. and around the world that recognize that avoiding unnecessary environmental risks often means avoiding business risks and that there's ways to protect shareholders and the planet at the same time. We'll stay in touch with the bank to ensure the strong and effective implementation of these new risk management policies."
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/01/c5937.html
3. More failing grades as governments scored on environmental performance
Press Release, Sierra Club of Canada, June 6, 2005
Ottawa: In the 13th annual release of the RIO Report Card, Sierra Club of Canada handed out a set of tough marks for progress, and lack of progress, on issues from toxic chemicals and pesticides, to endangered species and climate change. All told, the federal government was graded in eight areas, while every province and territory was graded in at least two, for a total of 36 grades. The highest of 36 marks was an A- for Prince Edward Island on climate change. The lowest marks were more common. In fact, one third of the marks were for failures (12 F's). The next most common grade showed progress is possible, with 8 marks of B-.
"For the federal government, progress was noted on the climate change file, but failing marks were handed out for fisheries policy, trade and environment, and for pesticide and toxics policy," noted Elizabeth May, Executive Director of SCC. "The revised climate plan is an improvement, but much more must be done if we are to deliver on Kyoto commitments. The Martin government also needs to respond to the threat of toxic chemicals to human health and for radical change to fisheries policy."
The RIO Report Card noted a serious threat to the survival of wild salmon on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Threats include the impact of aquaculture, the failure to protect endangered populations of salmon within the Species at Risk Act and a weak and inadequate Wild Salmon Policy.
National Conservation Director Stephen Hazell noted that federal commitments to the Mackenzie Gas Project and the tar sands developments that Mackenzie gas will fuel are inconsistent with Canada's Kyoto and biodiversity obligations. "The hell or high water determination of many politicians to build the pipeline whatever the environmental cost seriously undermines the environmental review. The petro-industrialization of the vast Mackenzie wilderness demands a thorough review, and this includes review of the no-go option" said Hazell.
Another failing grade to the feds was given out for pesticide regulation. SCC's Policy Advisor on Health and the Environment, Angela Rickman noted, "It is time to raise a very large red flag about the pro-industry bias of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Minister Dosanjh needs to ensure a complete and independent review of the phenoxy herbicide 2,4-D before any decision is taken."
The provincial governments had some star pupils, with solid performance in all subjects -- PEI, Newfoundland/Labrador and Quebec -- while New Brunswick and Nova Scotia made progress in protecting biodiversity. Meanwhile, Alberta and British Columbia are held back another year, coming in with Fs in all categories.
"There are slow learners, and then there are students who just don't give a damn. Put Ralph Klein and Gordon Campbell in the latter category," said Ms. May.
4. Hundreds Protest Canada's Forest Destruction At Global Forest Summit
Press Release ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Western Canada Wilderness Committee, June 1, 2005
VANCOUVER, CNW - Hundreds of concerned citizens and activists from across Canada and the United States rallied today outside the world's largest forest industry gathering to demand more forest protection and a shift to ecosystem-based logging practices for all of Canada's endangered forests and endangered species habitat. Demonstrators, dressed as caribou, salmon and bears, highlighted the discrepancy between the summit's message of sustainability and the ongoing, widespread forest destruction occurring across Canada.
The Global Forest and Paper Summit drew 500 senior forest industry executives and government policy-makers from 17 countries to Vancouver with the goal of creating a 'vision' of sustainability for their industry.
"It is ironic that more than 20,000 acres across Canada, an area almost the size of Vancouver, will be logged during this three-day forest summit on sustainability," said Tzeporah Berman, ForestEthics's program director. "This summit is not about creating real change - it's a forum for the same empty talk we've been hearing for years."
In British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest, five years of collaboration among industry, environmental organizations, First Nations and stakeholders resulted in one of the most innovative packages for forest protection ever presented, including protecting one-third of the region from logging and fully implementing Ecosystem-Based Management. However, industry has yet to live up to its commitments and clearcutting continues.
"The forest industry endorsed a vision years ago and supported a solutions package for the Great Bear Rainforest, but as a result of government and industry inaction to date nothing has changed on the ground," said Amanda Carr, Greenpeace forest campaigner.
British Columbia is also presiding over the decimation of the endangered mountain caribou, of which only 1,670 remain (down from 2400 only eight years ago). Companies like West Fraser Timber, Tolko Industries and the British Columbia government's Timber Sales Program are cutting down the old growth forests on which these animals depend. The fate of caribou across Canada is threatened because of the increased logging of Canada's boreal forest.
"As the forest industry talks about 'vision' to enhance its public relations activities, more endangered species habitat is being destroyed," said Gwen Barlee, Western Canada Wilderness Committee policy director.
Meanwhile, the marketplace is changing. Major wood and paper customers like Staples and Home Depot have committed to stop buying wood that comes from ancient forests, old growth or endangered forests, and to purchase wood that is logged sustainably.
For further information: and for b-roll, please contact:
Tzeporah Berman, ForestEthics program director, (604) 313-4713 (cell);
Amanda Carr, Greenpeace forest campaigner, (604) 253-7701 ext. 14 or (604) 839-8760 (cell);
Gwen Barlee, Western Canada Wilderness Committee policy director, (604) 202-0322 (cell)