Canada

Holding brands accountable to transform the tissue market

U.S. demand for single-use, throwaway products like toilet paper and paper towels is a major driver of unsustainable logging across the boreal forest in Canada. Through research, advocacy, and consumer engagement, NRDC encourages companies to adopt more responsible sourcing practices and reduce the environmental and social harms associated with their fiber supply chains. NRDC’s flagship Issue with Tissue report and scorecard series shine a spotlight on the impacts of everyday paper products and help consumers make more informed, sustainable choices. The report is a critical tool for encouraging companies to reduce their dependence on high-impact forest fiber, adopt more sustainable alternatives, and respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including through adherence to the principle of FPIC—all of which help to shift the marketplace toward greater environmental and social responsibility (e.g., challenging companies like Procter & Gamble to stop using high-integrity boreal forest to make products like Charmin toilet paper).

Advancing deforestation- and degradation-free trade and forest policy 

Through better policies and practices, Canada can protect and sustainably manage the primary, mature, and old-growth forests that absorb and store massive amounts of climate-warming carbon, provide habitat for millions of species, and support local communities. We work with partners to improve the policies that shape how forests are managed, protected, and valued. From elevating the impacts of forest degradation in Canada and educating investors on how to avoid investments supporting forest degradation to promoting transparent forest carbon accounting and stronger protections for mature and old-growth forests and supporting deforestation-free trade and procurement policies, our goal is to reduce forest degradation while advancing Indigenous rights and climate resilience.

Challenging tar sands and LNG expansion

For more than a decade, NRDC played a leading role in the movement to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, one of the most prominent fossil fuel infrastructure battles in North America. By combining litigation, advocacy, and coalition-building and working in partnership with Indigenous communities, landowners, and conservation organizations, we challenged the project’s environmental impacts, helped prevent the construction of the project, and built public awareness of the risks associated with expanded tar sands development. 

Together in a coalition, we stopped the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline and the Energy East pipeline that would have brought hundreds of tar sands tankers down the U.S. Atlantic coast from Canada to refineries on the U.S.’s Gulf Coast. NRDC continues to work with on-the-ground partners to stop new tar sands and liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure that would undermine efforts to address climate change and threaten communities, waters, and iconic species across North America.