Archived press release

Friends of the Earth refutes sustainable paper report

4 June 1996

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH REFUTES SUSTAINABLE PAPER REPORT

Friends of the Earth is horrified by the summary of a World Business Council for Sustainable Development report, to be released tomorrow(Wed), which outlines how the the world demand for paper can be met without tackling the problem of overconsumption.

The summary report, A changing future for paper (1), predicts paper demand will increase by 50% in the next 50 years, lower than some other predictions (2). However, it claims this demand CAN be met, by dedicating an area the size of Sweden to high-yielding pulp plantations - an almost four-fold increase in the current area of such plantations.

Friends of the Earth believes that this would have serious environmental impacts. High-yielding pulp plantations are extremely low in biodiversity and very poor habitats for wildlife. In Sweden, for example, where 95% of the original forest has been converted to intensively managed forests or plantations, 1,487 forest-dwelling species are listed as endangered.

The report fails to identify where the new plantations would be established,but states that many would have to be in the tropics or semi-tropics. As well as the implications for biodiversity, plantations in these regions often have social problems, depriving local communities of their land, and may even be established at the expense of natural forest. Eucalyptus, a fast-growing,exotic species commonly used in tropical plantations, has negative effects on the local hydrology and is an extremely poor habitat for wildlife.

The report's calculations are based on no additional environmental constraints being put on forests ie. the continuation of current,unsustainable forest practices. Old-growth forests, particularly in Canada and Scandinavia, continue to be destroyed to produce paper (Scandinavia has less than 5% old-growth forest remaining). The introduction of sustainable forest management, and the establishement of more protected areas, both essential for the future of forests worldwide, would result in a decrease in timber yield not accounted for in the report.

The unsustainable consumption of wood and wood products is now widely recognised as a key issue of concern, and mentioned in fora such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. Friends of the Earth believes that,rather than devoting vast areas of land to intensively managed plantations and continuing to produce more and more paper, consumption of paper in industrialised countries should be reduced. This can be achieved through more careful use, reducing waste and increasing recycling. Paper production is also costly in terms of energy use and pollution produced.Reducing consumption would have positive effects in these areas too.

Dr Georgina Green of Friends of the Earth said:

"Paper is a valuable product with great environmental costs, but it is currently used wastefully, and often consigned to landfill after a single use. Establishing more plantations and more pulp mills is not the answer - the environmental costs are just too great - and suggesting fibre supply is not an issue is irresponsible, to say the least. We urgently need to tackle the issue at its root, and reduce our wasteful consumption of this costly resource."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The summary document, A Changing Future for Paper, presents the conclusions of a more extensive report, Towards the Sustainable Paper Cycle. This is the result of a study commissioned by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and undertaken by the International Institutute for Environment and Development.

[2] The United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organisation predicts an increase in world paper use from 242 million tonnes in 1990-1991 to 443 million tonnes in 2010, an increase of 83% in 20 years.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust