What is CanopyStyle?
The CanopyStyle initiative brings together fashion's most progressive players and industry giants to protect the world's forests while scaling up the use of next-generation alternatives.
The fashion industry has increasingly relied on forests to create natural wood-based fabrics such as viscose, modal and lyocell. According to Canopy – an independent environmental organisation working to protect the world's Ancient and Endangered Forests – over 200 million trees are logged every year and turned into cellulosic fabric, endangering the world's forests, biodiversity and climate.
As such, Canopy launched the CanopyStyle initiative to rally support from the industry's biggest players to end the sourcing of viscose fibre from the world's Ancient and Endangered Forests.
Preferred by Nature is approved by Canopy as an auditing body to carry out CanopyStyle verification audits. Over thirty viscose audits have been conducted against the CanopyStyle criteria and Preferred by Nature has provided audits for the majority of such companies.
If you are a man-made cellulosic fibre (MMCF) producer and have a policy in place with Canopy, get in touch with us to learn how to get started on your verification journey.
Access the CanopyStyle verification database here.
How is the verification audit process?
The CanopyStyle verification audit focuses on managing the risk and avoiding sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests and other controversial sources in man-made cellulosic fibre producers through third-party verification.
The CanopyStyle audits of global producers of man-made cellulosic fibre are based on a robust set of criteria created by Canopy, with approval from the CanopyStyle Leaders for Forest Conservation.
CanopyStyle criteria establish a credible, third-party verification process for viscose, acetate, lyocell, rayon, and modal producers. They describe the procedure by which auditors will verify that producers are meeting the criteria and if/when they can be recognised as being at low risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests and other controversial sources.
The CanopyStyle audits are used by over 500 apparel brands, retailers, and designers as a guide to implementing their CanopyStyle sourcing policies. These audits are a key tool to support improved performance on these commitments and will be conducted on a regular base. As part of the CanopyStyle initiative, producers are required to document and provide evidence towards a set of predefined criteria and key progress indicators.
Audit findings will contribute to the annual CanopyStyle's Hot Button Issue Report – assessing viscose producers' overall performance on forest conservation, advancement on developing fabrics made from next-generation feedstocks, and transparency.
>> Click here for an overview of the audit process.
Complaints and resolutions
If a complaint is raised about our certification services or one of our clients, we handle this in accordance with our Dispute Resolution Policy. We may call on our Impartiality Committee if Preferred by Nature’s impartiality is under question.
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