Brief: Walmart joins Canopy to remove at-risk forests from materials supply chain

• Walmart‘s North American businesses are joining CanopyStyle, an initiative by conservation nonprofit Canopy aimed at removing “ancient and endangered forests” from global materials supply chains.  
• As part of the move, group companies Walmart US, Sam’s Club US, and Walmart Canada have set a goal to ensure that, by 2025, none of the man-made cellulosic fabrics used in their apparel and home textile products come from trees felled in endangered forests.
• “We are focused on making product supply chains more regenerative, working in harmony with nature to protect, restore, and sustainably use our natural resources,” Denise Incandela, executive vice president, Walmart US, said in a statement. “We know our work with Canopy is a step in the right direction as we aim to effectively leverage our sourcing as a force to protect forests, and we look forward to bringing more sustainably sourced textiles to our customers.”

Why it matters:

By joining the CanopyStyle initiative, Walmart will require its suppliers to end sourcing from “endangered” forests and encourage them to instead use alternative fiber sources, such as fabrics made from recycled textiles and agricultural residues.

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According to Canopy, 3.2 billion trees from what it calls “ancient and endangered forests” are cut down each year to for pulp to make paper, packaging, and cellulosic fabrics such as viscose, rayon, modal, lyocell, and acetate.