Over 40 NGOs deliver letter to IOC cautioning that timber
for Olympic Stadium and other venues risks connections to human rights and
environmental violations
Lausanne, Switzerland, December 6, 2016 - As Olympic
organizers deliberate on cost-cutting measures for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics , a
letter endorsed by 44 organizations was hand-delivered today to the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) during its winter board meeting, warning
Olympic organizers of the high risk that illegal and unsustainable rainforest
timber will be used to construct Tokyo’s new Olympic National Stadium and other
facilities.
Could logs from Sarawak be used to construct the new Tokyo Olympic Stadium?
The groups warned that failure to adopt additional
safeguards and due diligence measures could have devastating consequences for
biodiversity, climate change, and local communities who have legitimate rights
to the forests and rely on it for their livelihoods. Japan has long been a focus
of criticism by civil society and the international community for driving
rainforest destruction by its timber consumption.
Japan is the world’s largest importer of tropical
plywood, much of it sourced from the rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia. In
particular, NGOs highlight the situation in Sarawak, Malaysia, which supplies
nearly half of Japan’s imported plywood. Sarawak has one of the highest rates
of deforestation in the world and an extremely high rate of illegal logging.
Indigenous communities
in Sarawak have been fighting logging companies for decades in an effort to
protect their native lands, with sometimes deadly consequences.
Independent investigations have linked plywood used by
Taisei Corporation, which will build the new Olympic Stadium, to a biodiversity
hotspot in Sarawak that is experiencing one of the highest rates of
deforestation in the world due to extremely destructive logging practices.
“Sarawak's
logging companies have destroyed our forests and polluted our drinking water.
They have violated our rights as indigenous peoples and robbed us of our
livelihood,” says Nicholas Mujah of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association.
“The Tokyo Olympic organizers are not doing enough to
avoid the use of timber linked to violations of indigenous rights, illegal
logging, and rainforest destruction,” says Junichi Mishiba of Japan-based
Friends of the Earth-Japan.
“Using illegal and
unsustainable timber to build the Olympic buildings in Tokyo would go against
the organizers’ commitment to sustainability and leave a terrible legacy.”
NGOs are calling on the IOC to demand stronger standards
by the Tokyo organizers, consistent with the IOC’s commitment to “ensure that
[sustainability] is included in all aspects of the planning and staging of the
Olympic Games.”
At a meeting of
experts on December 4th, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she was familiar with
the issue and will raise its voice as the contractee for many of the projects.
The Tokyo Olympics has attracted record corporate sponsorship,
but sponsors could face serious reputational risk by helping to fund
construction of these Olympic projects.
“At a time when more companies and governments are
committing to no deforestation, this would be a huge step backward. The IOC and
sponsors should step up and demand the Tokyo organizers to ensure that all
timber used for Olympic construction comes from legal and sustainable sources,
with the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of local communities”, says
Hana Heineken of California-based Rainforest Action Network.
The Open Letter
December 6, 2016
Thomas Bach
President
International Olympic Committee
Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne Switzerland
An Open Letter
to the International Olympic Committee
Dear Mr. Bach:
Re: Risk of
illegal and unsustainable tropical timber use for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to express
our grave concern about the social
and environmental footprint of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
and related construction projects.
There is a high risk that Tokyo’s new Olympic National
Stadium and other projects planned
for the Olympic Games will use illegal and
unsustainable tropical timber from the
endangered rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia, with
devastating consequences for
biodiversity, climate change, and local communities
who have rights to and rely on the
forests for their livelihoods.
Efforts by the
Japanese Government and the Tokyo Olympic organizers to mitigate these serious
risks have been woefully inadequate. We urge the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) to take immediate action to ensure the sustainability aspirations
of the Olympics are met and the timber used for Olympic construction does not leave
a legacy of human rights violations and environmental devastation.
Despite Japan’s commitment to make the Tokyo 2020 Games
sustainable and environmentally friendly,ii the lack of effective procurement
safeguards and reality of timber procurement in Japan presents a significant
risk that the timber used for Tokyo Olympic construction projects, including
the Olympic National stadium, will be illegal, unsustainable, and linked to
human rights violations.
Japan is the world’s biggest importer of plywood from
tropical rainforests, nearly 90% of
which comes from Malaysia and Indonesia, where logging
practices continue to be associated
with illegality, violation of indigenous rights,
destruction of valuable forest ecosystems, and
corruption.
The situation is particularly dire in the state of
Sarawak, Malaysia, which supplies nearly half of Japan’s imported plywood and
is the predominant supplier of plywood used for concrete formwork in Japanese
construction projects.
Independent investigations have linked plywood used by
Taisei Corporation, which will build the new Olympic Stadium, to a biodiversity
hotspot in Sarawak that is experiencing one of the highest rates of deforestation
in the world due to extremely destructive logging practices.
The Tokyo Olympic organizers have recognized these risks
in Japan’s timber supply chain
and taken some steps to address them. However, current
measures are inadequate. The wood
procurement policy adopted by the Tokyo Organising
Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in June 2016 commits to procuring
timber that is legal and harvested in consideration of the environment, indigenous
rights, and worker safety.
Unfortunately, the
policy makes an exception for concrete formwork plywood by allowing the use of
wood that was not harvested sustainably or with respect for indigenous rights
as long as it satisfies the legality criteria.vi In addition, it allows
legality to be verified on the basis of the Japanese Government’s Green
Purchasing Lawvii, despite significant evidence that this law provides no
assurance of legality.
Moreover, the minimal safeguards established by the Tokyo
Organising Committee will not
apply to all the construction projects associated with
the Tokyo Olympics. The policy will not
apply to construction of the new Olympic National Stadium
nor permanent buildings under
the authority of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Both the Olympic Stadium and Tokyo Government buildings
will in practice only be required to satisfy the above-mentioned Green Purchasing
Law, which has no requirement on sustainability and inadequate safeguards on legality.
This presents a
significant risk that illegal tropical timber linked to rainforest destruction
and human rights violations will be used for construction of all permanent
Olympic projects. Such an outcome would be a major step
backward for the Olympic commitment to sustainability and a tragic legacy at a
time when protecting the remaining tropical forests and respecting human rights
is more urgent than ever.
To ensure the Tokyo Olympics upholds the IOC’s commitment
to include sustainability in all aspects of the Olympic Games, we urge the IOC
to immediately take the following steps:
1) Ensure all relevant Tokyo Olympic construction
projects follow a uniform standard that requires the use of legal and
sustainable wood that is free of human rights violations. This must apply to
concrete formwork plywood with no exceptions.
2) Require the Tokyo Olympic organizers to conduct a
thorough and independent, risk assessment of the legality and sustainability of
timber supply chains for all relevant construction projects, and publicly
report on the methodology and results of the assessment.
3) For all timber products evaluated to be of medium or
high risk of illegality or
unsustainability, require the Tokyo Olympic organizers to
establish full traceability of timber back to the forest, obtain credible
independent verification of the legality and sustainability of the timber used,
and publicly report on measures taken to mitigate the risks.
4) Prohibit the use of timber that derives from
rainforests that are intact or otherwise of High Conservation Value. Such
timber cannot be considered sustainable.
5) Require timber to be derived from forestry operations
that respect indigenous and local communities’ legal and customary rights to
land, forests, and natural resources, and require verification of their Free,
Prior and Informed Consent to logging operations.
The construction of several permanent Olympic buildings
has already begun, and
construction of the Olympic Stadium is scheduled to begin
in December of this year. We
therefore urge the IOC to take these measures as a matter
of urgency.
In addition to timber, there are several other
commodities that carry similar risks of illegality,
deforestation, and human rights violations. These include
products made of pulp & paper,
palm oil, soy, rubber, as well as beef. We urge the IOC
to ensure similarly robust due diligence measures are taken when procuring
these commodities.
We look forward to working with you to ensure the Tokyo
Olympics safeguards the Olympic
values and contributes a lasting legacy that is
beneficial to future generations.
Sincerely,
ARA, Germany - Wolfgang Kuhlmann, Director
Avobo, Japan - Youki Mikami, Managing Director and
President
Biofuelwatch, UK/US - Almuth Ernsting, Co-director
Blue Dalian, China - Sun Li, Office Manager
Bob Brown Foundation, Australia - Jenny Weber, Campaign Manager
Bruno Manser Fund, Switzerland - Lukas Straumann,
Executive Director
Center for International Environmental Law, US - Melissa
Blue Sky, Senior Attorney
Centre for Environmental Law & Community Rights /
Friends of the Earth Papua New
Guinea, Papua New Guinea - Peter Bosip, Executive
Director
Denkhausbremen, Germany - Peter Gerhardt, Director
Environmental Investigation Agency, US - Alexander von
Bismarck, Executive Director
FERN, Europe - Rudi Kohnert, FLEGT SE Asia campaign
Friends of the Earth Australia, Australia - Franklin
Bruinstroop, International Liaison Officer
Friends of the Earth Japan, Japan - Junichi Mishiba,
Executive Director
Friends of the Siberian Forests, Russia - Andrey Laletin,
Chair
Global Environmental Forum, Japan - Yuki Sakamoto,
Director of Planning and Research
Greenpeace - Yuko Yoneda, Executive Director, Greenpeace
Japan
Haburas Foundation / Friends of the Earth Timor-Leste,
Timor Leste - Virgilio da Silva
Guterres, Executive Director
HaKi, Indonesia - Deddy Permana, Program Director
Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, Japan - Masayuki Sakamoto,
Executive Director
Japan Tropical Forest Action Network, Japan - Akira
Harada, Director
Jaringan Masyarakat, Gambut Jambi, Indonesia -
Rudiansyah, Coordinator
Jikalahari, Indonesia - Woro Supartinah, Coordinator
Keruan, Sarawak,
Malaysia - Balang Nalan, CEO
Link-AR Borneo, Indonesia - Agus Sutomo, Executive
Director
Markets For Change, Australia - Peg Putt, CEO
More Trees, Japan - Ryuichi Sakamoto, Representative
National Wildlife Federation, US - Barbara Bramble, Vice
President, International
Conservation and Corporate Strategies
Padi, Indonesia - Ahmad Sja, Director
Pro Public/ Friends of the Earth Nepal, Nepal - Prakash
Mani Sharma, Executive Chair
Pro REGENWALD, Germany - Hermann Edelmann, Coordinator
Rainforest Action Network, US - Lindsey Allen, Executive
Director
Rainforest Foundation Norway, Norway - Nils Hermann
Ranum, Head of Policy and
Campaigns Department
Rainforest Rescue / Rettet den Regenwald, Germany -
Reinhard Behrend, Director
Russian Social Ecological Union / Friends of the Earth
Russia - Andrey Laletin, Co-chair
Sahabat Alam
Malaysia / Friends of the Earth Malaysia, Malaysia - Meenakshi Ramen,
Honorary Secretary
Sarawak Campaign
Committee (SCC), Japan - Tom Eskildsen, Steering Committee Member
Sarawak Dayak Iban
Association (SADIA), Sarawak, Malaysia - Nicholas Mujah, Secretary
General
SAVE Rivers,
Sarawak, Malaysia - Peter N. J. Kallang, Chairman
Scale Up, Indonesia - Hary Oktavian, Executive Director
Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI) / Friends of
the Earth Indonesia, Indonesia -
Khalisah Khalid, Head of Campaign and Network Development
WALHI East Kalimantan, Indonesia - Fathur Roziqin Fen,
Executive Director
WALHI West Kalimatan, Indonesia - Anton P Widjaya,
Executive Director
Wetlands International, Netherlands - Jane Madgwick, CEO
Yayasan PUSAKA, Indonesia - Y.L. Franky Samperante,
Director
Attachments:
Mainichi Shimbun, New National Stadium: A mechanism that
cannot exclude illegally
harvested timber (unofficial translation), October 6,
2016.
cc:
John D. Coates, Vice President and Chair of Tokyo 2020
Coordination Commission, IOC
H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, Chair of
Sustainability and Legacy Commission, IOC
Michelle Lemaitre, Head of Sustainability and Olympic
Legacy, IOC
David Stubbs, IOC Advisor
Kazumi Ohigashi, President, Japan Sport Council
Yuriko Koike, Governor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Tamayo Marukawa, Minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympic
and Paralympic Games,
Government of Japan
Yoshiro Mori, President, Tokyo Organising Committee of
the Olympic and Paralympic
Games
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