June 27 2018 (Montreal) – In response to an open-letter from seventeen US companies using pulp and paper products from Canada’s Boreal forest and urging federal and provincial governments in Canada to protect critical Boreal caribou habitat from degradation, Olivier Kolmel, Forest campaigner for Greenpeace Canada, said:
“These companies are showing a commendable effort to ensure that their products are responsibly sourced from Canada’s Boreal forest, respect Indigenous Rights and do not harm woodland caribou, which continue to decline. This plea comes at a critical moment when provincial governments such as Quebec and Ontario appear to be backtracking on caribou protection. If the hope is to preserve forestry jobs in the long-term, then our governments must ensure that effective conservation measures are put in place. Dismissing science or the needs of forest product customers won’t allow solutions to the critical challenges facing our forests, such as biodiversity loss and the effects of climate change.”
The seventeen companies that signed the letter to government leaders, which include Gap Inc., Hallmark, Seventh Generation, North Face and Clif Bar & Company, reiterate the key demands of another letter sent last October by eight corporations. These corporations include Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, H&M, Amy’s Kitchen, Ben & Jerry’s, Greystone Books, Rose International, and Liturgy Training Publications, and alone have a collective market cap value of nearly $600 billion. A copy of this letter is posted here.
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For more information:
Marie Moucarry, Communications officer, Greenpeace Canada, 438-993-6127, [email protected]