16.08.2023. Climate and biodiversity are closely intertwined. Climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, while ecosystem destruction contrasts nature’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, precipitating climate change. Just as supply chains must become deforestation-free by 2025 if the Paris Agreement climate goals are to be met, ZSL’s SPOTT (Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit) found that there is much the private sector can do.
New company commitments, technologies and data, ZSL show, are demonstrating it is feasible to greatly reduce deforestation risk in supply chains. Interholco ranks 1st in SPOTT's 2023 ESG transparency ranking, published yesterday.
INTERHOLCO’s CEO Ulrich Grauert says: 'Buyers of our products should not choose between sustainability or high-performance. With SPOTT, transparency is a transformational agent, really. Our robust, in-house due diligence is foundational to the impact, quality and scale of our forest protection model. Then comes external verification and validation.'
SPOTT is the only assessment of its kind for the tropical forestry sector. The assessment currently covers 100 timber and pulp producers, processors and traders with combined landbanks of over 440,000 km2. Based on over 175 environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators, SPOTT’s scorecard ranges from biodiversity conservation and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to land conflicts and labour rights.
At INTERHOLCO, each and every one needs to be proactively engaged in multi-stakeholder dialogue with long-standing partners, to see where and how we can do better, in our policies and processes Only by working together with government, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities which rely on forests for their livelihoods, can IHC channel credible change.
Take a look at the SPOTT dashboard.
Photos © IMAGEO - ATIBT 2022
About Interholco
Founded in 1962, INTERHOLCO (IHC) delivers African, European and North American hardwood products (lumber, logs, decking, laminated scantlings) to B2B customers in more than 40 countries worldwide. Recognized as a sustainability leader, IHC responsibly manages 1.16 million hectares of natural rainforest in the Republic of Congo, turning harvested wood into high-value timber products that serve customer needs, as well as improving our climate and increasing social justice. IHC is the first forestry company in the Congo Basin to have acquired FSC Ecosystem Services certification for biodiversity protection on top of FSC Forest management certification (Forest Stewardship Council, FSC® C022952). Follow us on LinkedIn.
Communication contact Interholco
Tullia Baldassarri Höger von Högersthal
INTERHOLCO AG, Neuhofstr. 25, 6340 Baar, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 (0)41 767 03 82
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
