We love working with wood. It’s a fantastic material: beautiful, durable and long-lasting. And it can be used in lots of different ways. On top of that, it’s renewable and possible to recycle and, when it comes from responsibly managed forests, can help mitigate climate change. It’s also part of our Scandinavian design heritage and has always played a central role in the IKEA range of home furnishing products. After all, IKEA was born in the forests of southern Sweden. You might even say that the IKEA story was built on a foundation made of wood.
“Our forests are mankind’s greatest asset.”
– Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA founder
Forests are critical for life on our planet, supporting the climate, biodiversity, health, water and livelihoods. They purify the air that we breathe, help maintain balance in the atmosphere and provide shelter for plants and wildlife. These vital ecosystems clean the water that we drink and provide sources of food, fuel and timber. Hundreds of millions of people living close to or in the forest depend heavily on them for their livelihoods and many millions more work within the forestry sector. For the future of our business and the planet, we want to utilise this valuable resource as efficiently as possible.
Our forest agenda
Beyond our own operations and value chain, IKEA is also committed to using its size, scale and reach to help halt deforestation and to make responsible forest management and wood sourcing the norm across the world. Our forest agenda 2030 consists of commitments for how we will make this happen:
- We secure the forests are managed responsibly.
- We contribute to mitigating climate impact while enhancing biodiversity.
- We collaborate to improve forest management.
- We utilize wood efficiently.
