Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has echoed discredited assertions made by their colleagues at Greenpeace in the last several years. NRDC’s statement appeared on November 2 and explicitly criticizes our litigation against Greenpeace.
It is our very commitment to responsible forestry—and to our integrity as a business—that obliges us to stand up against irresponsible accusations and unethical demands.
And that is what we have been doing for over three years now, in response to a carefully planned series of attacks and threats by activists at Greenpeace and other like-minded groups — attacks founded on ulterior financial motives, hidden deals, and a near total lack of transparency or accountability.
We have deep roots in Canada’s Boreal, and we know it is one of the world’s best managed forests — a fact recognized by researchers at prestigious institutions like Yale University and independent forestry experts like Europe’s Indufor Oy.
For years, Greenpeace has engaged in a misinformation campaign targeting Resolute and its customers. As a result of Greenpeace’s unabated conduct, Resolute was left with no choice but to make Greenpeace accountable for this misinformation. Greenpeace International raised €296 million (about $337 million at the current U.S. dollar exchange rate) in 2014. Greenpeace has national or regional offices in 41 countries. Greenpeace has all the resources necessary to provide for its defense and explain its conduct.
Resolute’s legal complaint describes in detail the falsity of these and other malicious and defamatory accusations. Among other things, the complaint explains that far from being a “forest destroyer,” Resolute has planted well over a billion trees in the Boreal – which is a billion more than Greenpeace – and is responsible for virtually no permanent lost forest acreage. The complaint also demonstrates that Resolute also has not impaired the Boreal’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases, and, instead, has improved that ability through harvesting and forestation as recognized and encouraged by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Nor has Resolute abandoned, exploited or impoverished First Nations or other communities within the Boreal forest, but instead – and again unlike Greenpeace – has created and sustained substantial benefits for these peoples through shared economic participation in the forestry business. The complaint also details how, to support its false accusations, Greenpeace has fabricated evidence and events, including, for example, staged photos falsely purporting to show Resolute logging in prohibited areas and as having harvested areas that were actually impacted by fire.
Over the past year, the media has started to catch on to the falsehoods and misrepresentations that formed the basis of the campaign. Here’s a small sample:
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (3/18/16):
No corporation could get away with the tactics employed by Greenpeace and stay in business, but the organization has managed to play by its own rules for years. Until now.
Amy Payne in National Review (4/20/16):
By standing up to Greenpeace, Resolute Forest Products is doing the world a favor. Juicy details about the group’s ridiculous antics would be a bonus. It’s inspiring to see a business fight back against the green bullies — to protect the truth, its employees, and its customers. Victims of Greenpeace’s false attacks should shout them down, loudly, for what they are.
The Globe and Mail (12/31/15):
Resolute can’t be blamed for doubting whether Greenpeace is really seeking solutions, or at least ones that it is prepared to live by for very long. That, after all, might hurt its fundraising.
Recently, one of Canada’s leading TV newsmagazines, Radio-Canada’s Enquête, spent months investigating the issues around Boreal forest management. After looking closely at the facts, the hour-long exposé that aired on March 24 highlighted a pattern of disinformation and misleading communications by Greenpeace.
Resolute has a strong track record when it comes to sustainability, from responsible forest management; world-leading GHG reductions; world-class health and safety performance; progressive, innovative commercial partnerships with First Nations communities; and even to the transparency in our sustainability reporting. Our sustainability leadership has been recognized by respected organizations from Canada’s Clean 50 to Ethical Corporation. Increasingly, we are receiving accolades for our sustainability achievements in the business community, by our colleagues in the forest products industry as well as outside it, and in North America as well as beyond. Sustainability is front and center in our corporate culture and is integral to the way we do business every day.
As Resolute’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Richard Garneau recently reaffirmed, “Our company strives for the highest standards of environmental stewardship, which is why the attacks on us are so obviously cynical and thoroughly irresponsible. We have an obligation to our business ethics, and our many shareholders, customers, partners and stakeholders to draw the line after all other means have been exhausted.”
Click here for more on why Resolute is taking a stand against these irresponsible attacks.
