Tools for Transparency

We advocate for the collection of transparent data among companies and governments. Our approach is twofold: we create innovative tools, and we support transparent and traceable systems that detect and deter environmental crime. Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the issue of illegally sourced goods, which has resulted in an increased demand to know the origin of the products they buy. We believe people deserve to know where products come from, and how product origins impact the world. 

Effective transparency systems are designed to provide appropriate and differentiated access to supply chain information for companies, government technicians, enforcement officials, and the public, while also protecting sensitive information as needed. Traceability enables the linking of a product through multiple owners and various stages of production. Transparent, traceable supply chains will give companies and consumers confidence that their products were sourced legally, and the ability to better assess the sustainable and ethical manners in which these products were produced. 

 

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Related Resources

Video

Has HS Timber Achieved Full Traceability?

    HS Timber, formerly Holzindustrie Schweighofer, is an Austrian company that is the largest timber processor in Romania. Following a year-long investigation into widespread allegations of illegal timber purchasing, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) disassociated itself from HS Timber in 2017. The first requirement the FSC set for HS Timber’s reassociation was for the […]

 Illegal wood in PNSD and Yavarí Tapiche
Press Release

The Origin App

EIA Launches Mobile App to Help Consumers Seek and Demand Wood Product Origin Information to Achieve Greater Supply Chain Transparency Washington D.C. — Today, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) launched The Origin App, a mobile application that empowers people to make better choices about what and from whom they buy. EIA believes that people deserve […]

 Illegal wood in PNSD and Yavarí Tapiche
Press Release

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Romania’s New Timber Traceability System Removes Public Transparency

On January 31, Romania released a new electronic timber traceability system, an important step in its transition to a fully digital forest sector. Unfortunately, the new system has inexplicably removed all public transparency. Following years of intense public pressure on the government to end the rampant illegal logging that is plaguing the country, the new […]

Climate-Friendly Supermarkets Map
Press Release

Climate-friendly Supermarket Scorecard

Supermarkets Failing to Tackle Super Pollutant HFCs Washington D.C. — Today, EIA launched the Climate-friendly Supermarket Scorecard assessing the largest U.S. supermarkets on actions and commitments to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – potent greenhouse gases used in cooling. Although climate-friendly options are readily available, American supermarkets continue to rely mainly on HFCs with thousands of times […]

Report

How to Use Romania’s Forest Inspector

  Forest Inspector, a real-time map-based presentation of all timber transports in Romania, has been updated to include significant levels of transparency to an already impressive online tool. EIA has created a short video tutorial introducing the website’s new and existing features. Due to increasing deforestation globally, pressure has increased for improved transparency and traceability […]