Greenpeace investigation reveals Kimberly-Clark lying to stockholders and public since 1998
Download a copy of the Chain of Lies report exposing Kimberly-Clark's use of Coastal Temperate Rainforests
July 26 2006 - As tissue giant Kimberly-Clark’s released its 2nd quarter earnings report, Greenpeace requested that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) look into statements by Kimberly-Clark executives regarding their wood pulp policy. The environmental group publicly revealed investigative evidence today that Kimberly-Clark uses pulp from the coastal temperate rainforests of British Columbia, despite repeated public claims to the contrary. The claims, which date as far back to 1998, appear in numerous company publications including the company’s 2006 proxy statement, 2005 Sustainability Report, and correspondences with the SEC.
The pulp in question is used in the manufacture of disposable tissue products sold around the world, including the Kleenex brand.
“We now know that Kimberly-Clark has been lying to the public and its shareholders for years to make itself look like a greener company than it actually is,” said Christy Ferguson, a forests campaigner with Greenpeace. “This is totally unacceptable. Kimberly-Clark executives need to stop making empty claims and start implementing meaningful policies to track the company’s fibre supply and reduce its impact on ancient forests.”
The evidence, compiled in an investigative report entitled Chain of Lies: the Truth about Kimberly-Clark’s Use of Ancient Rainforests for Tissue Products, details the movement of wood pulp from coastal temperate rainforests in British Columbia to Seattle-area sawmills to the company’s pulp mill in Everett, Washington. The evidence is based in part on US Customs data.
“In 1998, Kimberly-Clark announced that it was ending the use of pulp from coastal temperate rainforests, and officials have repeated that stated position numerous times since,” added Ferguson. “In truth, the company continues to use pulp from temperate rainforests, calling all of the company’s environmental statements into question.”
The claims to not use coastal temperate rainforest pulp form a key tenet of the company’s Corporate Policy on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and are consistently used as a response to criticisms of the company’s destruction of other ancient forests, like Canada’s Boreal.
In April, Greenpeace notified the company’s executives about its investigation and asked the company to take immediate action to address the situation. To date, the company has neither changed its stated policy on coastal temperate rainforest pulp, nor issued a clarifying statement.
Greenpeace is urging Kimberly-Clark to adopt Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in order to thoroughly track all virgin wood pulp used by the company. The FSC employs the strongest tracking system for wood pulp in the world and is the only certification system that promotes social and environmental sustainability.
Download a copy of the Chain of Lies report
To download a copy of Greenpeace’s letter to the SEC requesting an investigation: click here
