Our Progress on Sustainable Forestry

October 22, 2021 at 09:00 AM EDT

SOURCE: P&G

DESCRIPTION:

One important topic that P&G reports on regularly is our ongoing progress on environmental sustainability, including the responsible sourcing of raw materials like wood pulp and palm oil needed to make some of our products. Today we’re pleased to share an update on our efforts this year to protect our forests, helping to ensure no one has to choose between the products they use today and what they hope to preserve for tomorrow.

This year we…

Made our work more transparent and accessible. We engaged with a broad group of stakeholders and answered our shareholders’ request to increase the transparency of our efforts to eliminate deforestation and degradation of intact forests. Through our Forestry Practices Report, Forestry Practices Report Supplement, and our Family Care forestry efforts, all available to the public through our ESG Investor Portal, P&G now has industry-leading transparency and accountability on forestry practices.

Accelerated forestry and sourcing certification goals. Now 100 percent of the wood pulp and palm oils used in our Brands are third-party certified. These certifications prohibit deforestation, respect the rights of workers and Indigenous peoples, and protect habitat for the wildlife that call forests their home. Today, our shareholders and consumers can be proud that for every tree we use, at least one is regrown.

Strengthened accountability of our suppliers. P&G has taken comprehensive actions to strengthen supplier accountability, including conducting rigorous monitoring such as:

For palm oils, P&G uses Earthqualizer satellite mapping to proactively monitor any potential deforestation in our supply chain beyond the mills to the plantation level.
For wood pulp, P&G conducts four sustainability evaluations and two deskside audits of each supplier every year, as well as a field assessment of every supplier every other year.

These measures are in addition to the required annual independent audits associated with palm oil and wood pulp certification systems.

We have also enhanced our Palm Oil Policy & Supplier Expectations and Wood Pulp Sourcing Policy and implemented grievance tracking reporting that shares investigations and actions taken. We have and do take action to ensure accountability—from terminating, suspending, or reducing supply, while strengthening compliance to help drive meaningful progress.

Expanded our Forest Positive programs. We are helping protect and restore nature through partnerships and projects around the world. We are planting more than a million trees through partnerships to protect and restore forests that touch 35 countries and are committed to the long-term health of natural ecosystems essential to people, wildlife, and the planet. Learn more here: us.pg.com/mapping-our-impact.

We are proud of this progress and committed to doing the work required to lead our industry forward.

Our work ahead includes…

Developing fiber alternatives. P&G continues to make significant investments in innovative fiber alternatives, committing at least $20 million over five years. Our goal is to develop fibers that are consumer-preferred, sustainably sourced, and can be produced at scale. While no non-wood fiber sources meet these criteria yet, we continue to work with external experts to find disruptive solutions.

Expanding forest positive programs. We will continue to go beyond our responsible sourcing compliance and further expand the scale of our efforts to protect, improve, and restore forests ecosystems that are essential to people, wildlife, and the planet.

Continual improvement. We will continue to share details about our sourcing and the milestones we’ve achieved while also listening to the opinions of experts and other stakeholders to shape our work in the future.

Responsible sourcing is essential for our business and, more importantly, for the environment and people who depend on it. That’s why we’re committed to keeping forests as forests - now and for generations to come.

Tweet me: .@ProcterGamble regularly reports on ongoing progress on environmental sustainability, including the responsible sourcing of raw materials like wood pulp and palm oil needed to make products. https://bit.ly/2Z2wKAJ

KEYWORDS: NYSE: PG, P&G, Sustainable Forestry