" プレスリリース：五輪調達基準違反を東京都に再通報（2021/11/25）" 25 November 2021

[Japanese-to-English translation: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Rainforest Action Network [...] re-filed a complaint to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), one of the organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Games, on 12 November, on an allegation concerning violation of procurement code in the use of timber for the Tokyo Olympics. The complaint is based on a new analysis of satellite data, and it seeks for accountability for the destruction of Indonesia's tropical forests [...].

The purpose of the complaint is to provide clear evidence of tropical deforestation to the organisers and to ensure that the organising committee's sustainability Report after the Games, [...] which is expected to be published in December, includes the facts of destruction of tropical forests. We also recommended that procurement failures be used as a lesson for future procurement policies for public authorities and companies. At the recently concluded Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Japan signed a statement to halt forest loss by 2030.

This complaint was filed to the TMG against Sumitomo Forestry, Korean/Indonesian conglomerate Korindo Group and other companies concerning alleged violation of the Tokyo Olympics Timber Sourcing Code [...]. Regarding the use of tropical timber for the Tokyo Olympics, in May 2018, an NGO investigation foundthat non-certified formwork plywood manufactured by Korindo was used at the construction site of the TMG's newly built Ariake Arena, and that the product had been imported by Sumitomo Forestry[...].

Prior to this complaint, RAN used satellite data to analyse the business-controlled locations of the suppliers who provide logs to Korindo in Indonesia, based on the list of Sumitomo Forestry suppliers provided by the TMG during the consultation process. The results show that in 2016 and 2017, when Sumitomo Forestry is alleged to have supplied non-certified plywood, the total area of deforestation in the controlled areas of nine log suppliers amounted to approximately 7,000 hectares [...], and several of the suppliers were found to have cleared and destroyed valuable tropical forests, including peat forests and habitats of the endangered Bornean orangutan. The timber procurement standards for the Tokyo Olympics include provisions for ecological conservation, hence these standards have likely been breached. Korindo has been accused ofa number of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues, including bribery, human rights abuses and the destruction of tropical forests. In October this year, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) disassociated itself from the company, and FSC certification has now been suspended[...].

Toyoyuki Kawakami, RAN's Japan Representative, said: "The use of tropical wood without forest certification for the Tokyo Olympics is a clear example of the failure of Olympic procurement. [...]. It is essential that traceability and rigorous independent verification and disclosure of forest conservation and respect for human rights be added to the procurement policy."

[...]