Deforestation in Borneo linked to carbon neutral packaging supply chain for major health brands

An investigation by AFP and The Gecko Project found that nearly 30,000 hectares of tropical forest in Borneo were cleared between 2016 and 2024 to supply wood for packaging marketed as carbon neutral. The supply chain runs from Indonesian plantations to pulp mills in China and ends with boxes used by Haleon, the company behind brands like Panadol and Sensodyne. The scale of the clearing is roughly three times the size of Paris. The case raises serious questions about how carbon neutral labels are verified and whether offset claims can be trusted when the underlying raw material comes from recently deforested land. It also highlights the gap between corporate sustainability marketing and on the ground reality in tropical forest regions. For anyone tracking carbon market integrity or corporate net zero claims, this investigation provides a concrete example of the kind of supply chain scrutiny needed. It shows that without independent tracing and third party verification, carbon neutral labels on physical products can mask significant environmental damage.