Wood Furniture Scorecard Continues to Spur Responsible Wood Sourcing in the Furniture Industry

How can wood furniture help ensure forests remain standing? Using wood from responsibly managed forests actually can help keep forests healthy for generations to come. Forests managed under rigorous environmental and social criteria can generate income while allowing forests to regenerate naturally, so they continue to provide goods and services that benefit people, wildlife, and climate. This market incentive helps keep forests from being degraded or cleared for agriculture or other uses. So, companies that offer wood products in the marketplace have a crucial role to play in addressing the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss through their responsible sourcing decisions.

One of the best ways to ensure forests are well managed is by sourcing or purchasing wood that is Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified. WWF considers FSC the most credible forest certification. It provides companies and consumers with assurance that their wood has not contributed to illegal logging, deforestation, forest degradation, biodiversity loss, or human or labor rights violations.

In the US, a strong trend toward the responsible and legal sourcing of wood products has been growing in the furniture sector. This trend did not materialize out of nowhere. Research¹ has shown strong and steady growth in consumer interest in products made of environmentally sound materials. And mounting corporate concern about deforestation, forest degradation, and the climate crisis, driven by voluntary environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments, as well as new regulations like the European Union Deforestation Regulation, have also influenced an uptick in the availability of sustainable wood furniture.

An initiative called the Wood Furniture Scorecard, led by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC), has also played a major role in driving the wave. Now in its seventh year of publication, the purpose of the scorecard is to help protect forests by encouraging furniture retailers to implement policies that drive steady increases in the sourcing of responsible wood—particularly FSC-certified wood, as well as reclaimed and salvaged wood, whose use alleviates pressure on forests.

In the past half-decade, numerous major furniture retailers have joined longtime industry leaders (and WWF Forests Forward program participants) IKEA and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in sourcing and offering products made from responsible wood. These include two additional Forests Forward participants—City Furniture and Costco—as well as other notable retailers like Crate & Barrel, La-Z-Boy, Room & Board, Target, Walmart, and Wayfair.

The scorecard initially evaluates furniture retailers based on the information available on their websites. SFC then leads a proactive outreach effort to give companies an opportunity to make changes or provide additional information that affects their score.

The scoring has evolved over the years to spur genuine progress in the sector. In the scorecard’s first year, a company could achieve a high score mainly by having or adopting a responsible wood sourcing policy. In subsequent years, however, to maintain a high score companies have had to show that they are implementing their policies. The 2024 scoring methodology places greater emphasis on setting and implementing responsible sourcing targets, with more points available for companies that set goals and report against them publicly. This increases internal alignment and motivation, creates external accountability, and gives a company leverage and talking points with vendors.

It is heartening at a time when the environmental crisis looms larger than ever that many in the furniture industry are making strides toward sustainability. However, the progress made to date still falls short of what is needed to address the impacts of illegal and unsustainable logging and trade.

More companies need to set and follow through on commitments to responsible wood sourcing. The US furniture sector also needs to make broader commitments to climate and nature (see, for example, the Science Based Targets initiative and Science Based Targets Network). WWF’s Forests Forward program is designed to help companies with both tasks. The latest iteration of the scorecard indicates that the furniture sector has laid sufficient groundwork to take its sustainability efforts to the next level, and this is imperative for the future well-being of forests and the people who depend on them.

¹ Sustainable Furniture Market Growth And Status Explored In A New Research Report 2030 | by Wemarketresearch | Medium; Eco-friendly Furniture Market Size & Trends Report, 2030 (grandviewresearch.com)

This post was originally published in 2023 and updated with the most recent scorecard information.