Accounting for Sustainability

Every year, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) publishes a report that presents a supposedly "comprehensive picture of the financial and economic health and significance of the [forest] industry" in BC. The report lists the benefits of logging — jobs, stumpage, exports — but it ignores the costs — notably environmental damage and subsidies. These costs are borne by taxpayers, water users, recreationalists and other commercial sectors, as well as by future generations who will inherit far fewer forestry options than we have today.

British Columbia needs to account for the benefits and the costs of logging to make sound decisions about how forests are managed. This report is a first attempt to explore what the costs may be, with the objective of better understanding the overall contribution of logging to the economy.

Accounting for the Forests: A Methodological Review of the Price Waterhouse Report "The Forest Industry in British Columbia, 1997"
(PDF: Click here to download Acrobat PDF Reader)

Forest Subsidies

The World Resources Institute (WRI) published "Perverse Habits: The G8 and Subsidies That Harm The Forests And Economies" in advance of a G8 meeting in 2000. The report surveys some of these G8 subsidies, explaining why such payments are not justified and suggesting actions that these countries should take to conserve and manage forests for future generations.

Ecological Economics Inc. contributed the section on Canada stating that perverse subsidies amount to an estimated US$2-2.7 billions per year. In the Province of British Columbia alone subsidies to the industry in 1997 totalled about US$2 billion, half of which is estimated to be perverse and contributes to the destruction of old growth forests.

Perverse Habits: The G8 and Subsidies that Harm Forests and Economics
(PDF: Click here to download Acrobat PDF Reader)

No Subsidies!
Letters from the Governments of BC and Canada to WRI
WRI's Reply to the Government of Canada

The Governments of British Columbia and Canada disputed the allegations of subsidy in letters to WRI. Responding to the objections raised by these two levels of government, WRI stated that "The Perverse Habits study should thus be considered accurate until proven otherwise. The debate over the validity of information clearly indicates that there is more work to be done on the subsidy issue."