Ikea accused of harmful wood sourcing in Europe’s forests

Dive Brief:

• Environmental organization Greenpeace International has accused Ikea Group of wood sourcing practices that are destroying forests in Europe despite the furniture retailer’s reported commitment to sustainable wood sourcing standards, according to an Oct. 13 press release.
• Greenpeace published a report alleging that there is a gap between the retailer’s sourcing practices and its promises to use its industry influence to promote sustainable forestry. The organization also alleges Ikea has failed to measure the “true environmental footprint of its supply chain,” per the release.
• Greenpeace is urging Ikea to take actions to protect Europe’s forests, including halting sourcing from forest areas with high biodiversity and setting corporate biodiversity targets with measurable 2030 targets. The organization is also pushing the furniture retailer to embed ecosystem integrity as a core governance principle and align its political influence with its biodiversity commitments.

Dive Insight:

Ikea has faced backlash from environmentalists over its wood consumption and practices for years. U.K-based Earthsight, for instance, has previously accused the furniture retailer of selling beech chairs made from wood harvested illegally. Meanwhile, environmental groups Agent Green and the Bruno Manser Fonds published a report in 2024 spotlighting Ikea’s alleged destructive logging practices in the forests the retailer owns or sources wood from in Romania.

Ikea has publicly stated that as a large consumer of wood, it aims to “use its size and scale to continue in improving forest management practices and raising industry standards,” according to a press release published in 2025. As part of that claim, Ikea partnered with the European Forest Institute and non-profit Preferred by Nature to allocate 16,000 hectares of forests to research. The collaboration aimed to adjust existing forest management methods and improve overall forest resilience and biodiversity.

Greenpeace alleged that despite Ikea promoting sustainability as part of its corporate ethos, the retailer’s actions “fall short of implementing measurements to protect ecosystems and what more it should do to protect biodiversity,” per the report.

“[Ikea] should use its position as one of the leading wood users to identify insufficiencies in existing frameworks and use its political influence and purchasing power as a leader to increase the bar and do better,” per Greenpeace’s report.

“We have considered the Greenpeace report and welcome the discussion about how biodiversity outcomes can be improved,” Ikea said in an email to Supply Chain Dive. “We do not agree with several of the report's conclusions because it does not fully reflect the work that goes into our sourcing approach.”

The retailer stated in its FY25 sustainability report that “we are focused on actions to reduce negative pressures and impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems across our business and value chain.” This includes efforts to address connections between Ikea products and primary deforestation-linked commodities, per the report. In terms of progress as of FY25, Ikea reported that it has “continued to implement forensic methods to verify sources of wood.”

In FY25, Ikea suppliers processed about 14.7 million cubic meters of round wood equivalent in its products. Of that total volume, 81% came from virgin fibers while the remaining 19% was from recycled fibers.

On a wood-based material level, 69% of those Ikea uses are composite materials, while 25% are solid wood, according to the "The wood we use" page on its website. Five percent consists of “other” materials, such as paper or paper-based covering.

Ikea sources the majority of its wood — 81% — from Europe, with Poland and Lithuania producing the largest percentage of the retailer’s virgin wood, according to its website.

According to Ikea, 96.5% of its wood and paper is either Forest Stewardship Council — or FSC — certified or recycled, per its sustainability report.

The retailer says that it has a “comprehensive wood control system in place,” and does not accept wood that doesn’t meet its requirements, including material from illegal harvests, per its website. Ikea also claims to not accept wood from non-commercial high conservation value forests, areas with social conflicts, or genetically modified tree plantations.

To further enable regional suppliers and sub-suppliers to have access to wood materials that align with Ikea’s requirements, the retailer acquired approximately 8,000 hectares of forest lands in various parts of Latvia, per the sustainability report.

According to Ikea’s website page titled “Our approach to wood sourcing,” the retailer requires all suppliers to be able to track the origin of the wood used in Ikea products. Suppliers must provide reports three times a year, and must be able to provide more information upon request. To help mitigate possible risks, Ikea also requires suppliers to annually submit wood procurement plans.

“Our suppliers are required to have an FSC certificate and source materials that are either FSC certified or recycled,” Ikea said in its sustainability report. “In exceptional circumstances, we accept a supplier that does not have an FSC certificate resulting in 3.5% of wood and paper not being FSC certified or recycled.”

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