A followup on Energy Star

By Christine MacDonald

My Sunday post about criticism of Energy Star and other ''sustainable'' certification programs struck a nerve with some readers. The people most upset were supporters of the Forest Stewardship Council’s FSC label found on lumber sold at retailers such as Home Depot and Lowes. So I just
wanted to draw your attention to this story in Tree Hugger, about the news that one of the FSC founding members has announced it has abandoned its support for the sustainable
forest products label.

Friends of the Earth-UK joined with other nonprofits and timber companies to establish FSC following the 1992 Earth Summit. But the British group now believes the certification process has failed to live up to its promise.

On it’s website, the group says: “We are deeply concerned by the number of FSC certifications that are now sparking controversy and threatening the credibility of the scheme. We cannot support a scheme that fails to guarantee high environmental and social standards. As a result we can
no longer recommend the FSC standard.” The group’s full statement is available here.

With the move, the UK group joins a growing number of critics who say many certification programs designed to reward environmentally friendly consumer goods don’t always live up to hype. In the FSC case, critics say timber companies are getting to use the label without actually adhering to the high standards the council originally set out to achieve. Instead of safeguarding the world’s forests, they say the endorsement, a label that looks like a tree with a checkmark, has devolved into a marketing gimmick
that helps timber companies sell to the growing number of consumers concerned about the role deforestation is playing in climate change. (Experts say deforestation in the tropics is responsible for nearly 20 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to human activity.)

The controversy has been brewing for some time. Things took a turn for the worse last October, when the Wall Street Journal did a story
about plans to let Asia Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd. wear the FSC label. The Singapore-based timber conglomerate has been widely criticized for destructive forestry practices.

Still, the FSC still has a number of supporters in the environmental community. Friends of the Earth-US, which is part of the international federation in which FOE-UK is also a member, has not joined the Forest Stewardship Council and has no position on the FSC label, according to spokesman Nick Berning in the its Washington office. But Defenders of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy and Greenpeace all have seats on the Forest Stewardship Council’s board of directors.

Representing Greenpeace on the FSC’s board is Scott Paul, who says his group still supports the label despite sharing many of FOE-UK’s concerns. As Paul sees it, the Council is going through a difficult growth spurt as more and larger timber companies – including ones with checkered environmental records – have sought FSC certification in the last five years or so. Despite these growing pains, Paul defends the FSC as far better and more democratic than other “green” labels established by timber industry groups in recent years.

“I could go on all day criticizing the FSC,” Paul says. “But at the end of the day, I think the world is a better place because of it.”

Christine MacDonald is the author of the just-published "Green, Inc., An Environmental Insider Reveals How a Good Cause Has Gone Bad” (Lyons Press)