Sustainability

P&G Dropped Its Pledge Against Forest Degradation. That Could Hurt Its Brands in the Long Run

With climate concern on the rise, people are holding companies to a higher standard

pg-rolls-back-deforestation-2023 — Procter & Gamble brands source wood pulp from Canada's climate-critical boreal forest, according to the NRDC.Getty Images

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Procter & Gamble dropped a reference to forest degradation from its anti-deforestation policy in May this year, a move that green investors and environmental groups have denounced, but that the brand claims is due to streamlining terminology.

The change comes after the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a complaint late last year with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It claimed that P&G—parent company to Charmin, Bounty and Puffs—wasn’t complying with its own no-degradation policy, potentially misleading investors.