Reducing Impact on the World’s Forests
- Date: 17 September 2020
- Author: Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer, HP
The numbers are staggering. In 2019 alone, the tropics lost more than 29 million acres of tree cover. That's close to 30 soccer fields’ worth of trees every single minute. Monitored forest-dwelling wildlife populations—including mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians—have declined on average by 53% since 1970. Declines have been greatest in tropical forests, such as the Amazon rain forest. We know that forests are essential to life on Earth, serving as home to thousands of animal and plant species, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people, and helping to regulate the global climate.
At HP, we understand and accept the science indicating this next decade is the most critical moment in time for addressing climate change and know that forests play a key role in a global solution.
As a printing company—and longstanding environmental leader in the IT industry—we recognize that we have an obligation to find ways to reduce our impact on the world’s forests and address the concerns that our customers have regarding the amount of paper used in printing. It’s one reason why we set a zero-deforestation goal in 2016 to ensure that all HP brand paper and paper-based product packaging is derived from certified and recycled sources by 2020. We achieved our goal for our brand paper in 2016, achieved 80% of our goal for product packaging in 2019 and are on track to meet our full goal by the end of 2020.
But we also know that responsible sourcing is just part of the equation. To make a lasting impact requires better business models, greater collaboration, and new ways of thinking. One way we’re helping achieve this goal is through the HP Sustainable Forests Collaborative, which was launched in September 2019 in support of our company strategy to create a forest positive future for printing.
“HP is working with WWF to go beyond leadership in responsible sourcing, taking action toward creating a more positive future for forests through investment and collaboration. ”
Linda Walker
Senior Director, Corporate Engagement, Forests
Partnering on sustainable forest initiatives
Last Fall, HP stepped up with an $11 million investment to support WWF’s efforts to restore part of Brazil’s threatened Atlantic Forest and increase the management of state-owned farms and forest plantations in China—ultimately protecting 200,000 acres of forests. We are also contributing to the development of science-based targets for forests designed to provide much-needed guidance on the quantity and quality of forests needed in key regions to restore and protect forest ecosystems that benefit people, plants, and animals.
Through the Collaborative we are partnering with industry leaders, including the Arbor Day Foundation, Chenming Paper, Domtar, Forest Stewardship Council, International Paper, and New Leaf Paper to protect, conserve, and promote sustainable forests.
Creating a greater call to action
At the same time, we believe more private and public partnerships are needed to enable all participants to collaborate, share best practices, and take advantage of each other’s strengths. To that end, we recently made a commitment to the U.S. chapter of the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org, the global trillion tree movement. The initiative is designed to bring together like-minded companies, governments, and organizations to accelerate the restoration of degraded forest ecosystems, fight climate change, and protect biodiversity on the planet.
With 75% of Fortune Global 500 companies expected to have met a Science-Based emission reduction target (SBT), be carbon neutral, or be using 100% renewable power by 2030, HP has continually committed to offer our customers printing that is forest positive, carbon neutral, and supports a circular economy. We’ve recently launched the planet’s most comprehensive carbon neutral Managed Print Service offering for HP-branded devices , making it simple for customers to advance their climate change goals. In fact, paper- and energy-saving technologies help HP Managed Print Service customers reduce paper waste by 25% and offset 100% of their greenhouse gas emissions through CarbonNeutral® certification in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol.
Through these types of collaborations and offerings that help our customers be more sustainable, we believe we can use our collective influence to inspire widespread action across all industries—helping create a more sustainable future for the generations to come.
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of WWF.