Supply Chain
Canopy Welcomes LVMH, 29 More Brands to Coalitions Working to Preserve the World’s Forests

This week, forest conservation NGO Canopy announced major growth in participation in two of its ongoing initiatives that harness the purchasing influence of large brands to advance environmental protection and transform destructive supply chains.

Over 3.2 billion trees are cut down every year — that’s 95 trees every second, over 5,000 every minute, over eight million every day, many from the world’s most integral forests — to produce paper packaging or fabrics such as viscose and rayon. In early 2020, Canopy released a white paper called Survival — A Pulp Thriller. The report asserted that removing 50 percent of the forest fiber from pulp manufacturing, and replacing it with next-generation alternative fibers such as agricultural residues and waste cotton textiles, would enable conservation of 30 percent of the world’s forests by 2030.

Canopy’s Pack4Good (packaging) and CanopyStyle (fashion) initiatives work with brands to bring alternative materials solutions from the margins of the marketplace to the mainstream.

Today, French multinational luxury goods company LVMH announced it has signed on to both — with its commitments to apply to all of its iconic 75 maisons (brands).

LVMH’s commitments include:

• Ensuring its supply chains for paper, paper packaging and fabrics are free of fiber from the world’s ancient and endangered forests by the end of 2022; and

• Influencing its supply chains to protect the world’s remaining forests and endangered species habitat and forward the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of communities and Indigenous rights and title.

“LVMH’s Initiatives for the Environment Program (LIFE 360) recognizes and celebrates the importance of the world’s ancient and endangered forests as key to the world’s biodiversity and our ability to address climate change,” said Hélène Valade, Environment Development Group Director at LVMH. “We are pleased to be a CanopyStyle and Pack4Good partner, an integral step as we continue to ensure the highest environmental performance for our products and supply chain.”

In addition to ensuring its paper, packaging, and fabric supply chains are free of fiber from forests, LVMH and its maisons will also support the development of next-generation solutions — circular materials alternatives that include smart design and innovation — such as the use of agricultural residues, recycled textiles, and microbial cellulose to manufacture paper, packaging, and textiles instead of endangered forest fiber.

“Nearly five billion years of evolution has delivered us all an extraordinary natural inheritance that no one can afford to waste. We are thrilled that LVMH and all of their iconic Maisons are now working with Canopy to add conservation of the world’s priceless forests and climate to their legacy,” said Canopy Executive Director Nicole Rycroft.

LVMH’s commitments buoy the efforts of fashion giants including Allbirds, Kering, H&M, Levi Strauss, Marks & Spencer, EILEEN FISHER, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and over 200 others already working with CanopyStyle to protect forests’ irreplaceable ecosystems; and will contribute significantly to the transformation of unsustainable supply chains and the development of life-affirming value chains.

Meanwhile, Canopy announced on Tuesday that the Pack4Good initiative — its movement to save the world’s forests from ending up as take-out containers, shoe boxes, or other paper packaging — has now expanded to include 156 brands, including LVMH, collectively worth over US$78.5 billion in revenue. 29 new brands — including footwear, food and beverage, beauty and fashion companies — have committed to Pack4Good and will eliminate controversial forest fiber from their packaging; while speeding the uptake of next-generation solutions, made from materials such as agricultural residues, instead.

“UGG is proud to partner with Canopy, championing the continued importance of protecting the world’s forests to ensure a healthy planet, and a healthy future for the generations that follow us,” said Andrea O’Donnell, President of UGG® & Koolaburra by UGG® at Deckers Brands. “With this partnership, we are vowing to further our commitment to sustainable practices across forest related sourcing, taking steps to protect our endangered forests.”

Canopy launched Pack4Good in October 2019 — and its partners now include fashion brands, personal care brands, printers and telecommunication companies; as well as next-generation solutions providers, with more sectors and companies expressing interest every day.

“The companies that are joining Pack4Good are the out-of-the-box thinkers we need – leaders ready to transform paper packaging supply chains and scale-up solutions to save forests and our climate,” stated Nicole Rycroft, Executive Director of Canopy. “We have so many solutions just waiting to be implemented; it’s time to take them from the margins to the mainstream. Today’s announcement will help us do just that.”

Pack4Good partners are committed to ensuring that, by the end of 2022, all their packaging is:

• Free of ancient and endangered forests.

• Designed to reduce material use.

• Maximizing recycled and alternative next-generation fibers (such as agricultural residues).

• Using FSC-certified wood when virgin forest fiber continues to be used.

All of the fashion designers and retailers in this announcement have signed on to the CanopyStyle initiative, along with their Pack4Good commitments. These comprehensive forest-sourcing policies will keep ancient and endangered forests out of our wardrobes, as Canopy collaborates with these companies to shift the viscose and rayon supply chains toward more sustainable alternatives.