Tropical timber ripped from rainforests, against the wishes of Indigenous communities, is certified and sold on the world market as ‘sustainable’. The UK is the world’s third largest importer of so-called ‘sustainably certified’ timber from Malaysia, whilst local people's complaints about corrupt and harmful logging practices in Sarawak, and elsewhere, are ignored.
It's time to Clean Up the Tropical Timber Trade!
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British citizens want to buy sustainable products: but the greenwashing of dirty timber from the tropics by international certification schemes does not make it 'sustainable'. Instead such inadequate labelling helps to fuel the destruction of rainforests and the abuse of human-rights across the world. CUT is working to change this.
Tropical deforestation is a key component of our Earth Crisis
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It drives climate change, rainfall disruption, mass extinction, enforced migration and pandemic risk.
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It destroys the lives and the livelihoods of forest dwellers - the people best placed to preserve and care for these fragile environments, for the benefit of us all.
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We need to support Indigenous Peoples to protect their homelands, for all our sakes.
What can the UK do about it?
clean up UK TIMBER supply chains
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CUT wants the UK Government to investigate timber supply chains and to protect against environmental harm and human-rights abuses with robust, new legislation.
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As stated by Friends of the Earth "Powerful companies control commodity supply chains and facilitate demand for meat, timber and cheap food and fuel by consumers in the Global North and emerging economies, at the expense of the planet and people. We need governance measures to rein in the companies behind much of this devastation.
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"The UK government has recognised that our demand for cheap commodities drives forest destruction and the new Environment Act contains provisions to address deforestation. While it's encouraging to see a requirement for some businesses to conduct due diligence to ensure their supply chains are free of products that come from illegally deforested areas, it doesn't go far enough. It fails to address human rights and won’t protect indigenous communities."
suspend timber imports from Malaysia
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Suspend the UK import of Malaysian timber certified as 'sustainable' while serious complaints against logging companies in Sarawak, made by SAVE Rivers on behalf of local communities, are investigated.
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CUT supports the demands of our International partners that international timber validation schemes, such as PEFC, must ensure that their members, such as the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS), uphold the required standards for local community consultation and social and environmental impact assessments etc.
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Considering the forest pledge that both the UK and Malaysia signed at COP26, and the new Climate Partnership between the two countries, the planned increase in unsustainable and unethical timber imports from Malaysia to the UK is very worrying.
bring in new uk legislation
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CUT supports the Corporate Justice Coalition's call for new UK legislation to hold UK companies accountable for environmental harm and human-rights abuses in their supply chains, and to ensure that communities suffering harm caused by UK companies have the right to seek redress.
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Such legislation would tip the balance of power. In 2021, timber giant, Samling, filed a defamation lawsuit against SAVE Rivers, effectively silencing their valid complaints, meanwhile Samling's logging is allowed to continue covered by MTCS 'sustainable timber' label. As The Borneo Project points out "this sets a worrying precedent: companies using pending litigation to avoid accountability could become a trend."
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Sign Friend's of the Earth's petition now to support a new Business, Human Rights and Environment Act!
WHAT IS 'CUT'?
CUT is a developing partnership campaign to
Clean Up the Tropical Timber Trade.
We want to amplify the voices of Indigenous rainforest Peoples, so that they are heard, responded to and respected by UK consumers, businesses and our Government.
We are working with SAVE Rivers Network and Keruan Organisation in Sarawak, supported by Friends of the Earth in the UK and Malaysia, and Bruno Manser Fonds in Switzerland.
We LOVE our new CUT logo with its three Ts nested within a rainforest tree trunk, resisting the menacing C-saw-teeth behind... It was designed by the brilliant Bristol illustrator, print-maker, teacher and eco-activist, Simon Tozer.
