In response to an article published by The Guardian regarding our Canadian sustainable biomass operations, Miguel Veiga-Pestana, Drax’s Chief Sustainability Officer, wrote to the newspaper outlining the facts behind our Canadian supply chain. An extract of it was published by The Guardian on 21 November 2025 and it is published in full below:
The environmental non-profit Stand.earth fails to see the wood from the trees when it comes to the Canadian forestry industry and Drax’s limited role within it (Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say, 9 November). We do not own forests or sawmills, and we do not decide what areas are approved for harvesting.
The vast majority (81%) of our Canadian fibre came from sawdust and other sawmill residues created when sawmills produce wood products used in construction and other industries in 2024. The remaining 19% of our fibre came from forest residues, including low-grade roundwood, tops, branches and bark.
Forests in British Columbia are harvested for lumber by timber companies under strict regulations set by the province’s government in joint decision-making with indigenous First Nations. Around 94% of the province’s forests are on public land, and it is a legal requirement for these sites to be reforested in a free-growing condition. Leaving Canada’s forests unmanaged is not the answer to preserving these landscapes. We witnessed this in Jasper, Alberta last year when a wildfire on unmanaged land led to $880m in damages and significant amounts of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
The fibre highlighted in Stand.earth’s report was low-grade roundwood, which was rejected by sawmills following approved harvesting. Without the biomass sector using this harvest residue, it would likely be controllably burned on site to help mitigate wildfire risk. It is far better to positively use this residual fibre to generate renewable electricity. None of the fibre highlighted in this report came from a designated old growth management area or old growth deferral area.
Detailed response to the Guardian article claims:
Guardian article:
“The report, by Stand.earth, a Canadian environmental non-profit, claims that a subsidiary of Drax Group received hundreds of truckloads of whole logs at its biomass pellet sites throughout 2024 and into 2025, which were likely to have included trees that were hundreds of years old.”
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The report claims that the company received 90 truckloads of logs sourced from “old-growth forests” in the Skeena region of British Columbia, home to some of Canada’s largest undeveloped wilderness areas.
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Stand.earth claims that in 2024 and 2025 Drax received at least an additional 425 truckloads of whole logs from “cutblocks” – areas of forest land designated for timber harvesting – which contained old-growth forests.
The report claims that 63 of these loads came from three cutblocks that contained more than 90% old-growth forest, “meaning that this purchase almost certainly contained old growth”.
It added that the remaining 362 lorry loads of whole logs came from 22 cutblocks in the Skeena region that were more than 80% old growth, meaning that it was “likely” they contained old growth.
Drax response:
In advance of the publication of their research, we informed Stand.earth, through the Guardian newspaper, that it appeared they were analysing our operations at a timbermark (TM)2 level and not at the more granular cut block level.
10 out of the 25 TMs provided to Drax by Stand.earth/The Guardian had no identifiable OGMA and/or OGDA areas when assessed using the BC Government’s Technical Advisory Panel data layer, which suggests that the report’s author may be using outdated or non-authoritative data sources
None of the fibre purchased by Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc., a subsidiary within the Drax Group between January 2024 and July 2025 from the timber marks (TMs) provided by Stand.earth/The Guardian contained any material from protected old growth (OGMA) or deferred old growth forest stands (OGDA)
Cutblock level data is not available in the public domain and therefore any analysis of our biomass operations in Canada which relies solely on TM level-data cannot be conclusively relied on to confirm that fibre sourced from the TMs in question included OGMA and/or OGDA areas, as this can only be determined by analysis of cutblocks from where fibre was sourced.
There are numerous OGDA data sources released by the B.C. Government, but the one source used by industry and government at the operational level is: Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) – Priority Deferral Areas – Datasets – Data Catalogue
This source is what we use to define “no-go” areas in accordance with Drax’s commitment to not source directly from designated areas of old growth. Drax originally made the decision in October 2023 to stop sourcing wood fibre directly from OGDAs and OGMAs. This has be incorporated as a commitment into the Drax Biomass Sourcing Policy which was published in March 2025.
This commitment uses cutblock level assessment for OGMA and OGDA and is only applicable to forest based raw materials. Cutblock level assessments are important to avoid unnecessary burning of slash debris.
For example: a cutting permit, which is identified by a TM, can contain several cutblocks, up to 10 or more in some cases. By assessing at the cutblock level we ensure that material in blocks that do not contain mapped protected or deferred old growth are utilized which prevents unnecessary burning of slash debris. Burning of slash debris contributes to smoke which contributes to poor air quality in the surrounding communities and while Drax cannot utilize all slash debris out in the forest, the implementation of our commitment to sourcing biomass which avoids direct sourcing from designated areas of old growth allows us to help improve air quality caused by the burning of slash debris.
Our raw material purchases are third party audited by several auditors annually in addition to several internal audits.
Guardian article:
The report’s findings suggest that the power plant was burning “irreplaceable” trees even as its owners lobbied the UK government for the additional green energy subsidies, which were granted earlier this week.
Drax response:
Drax does not own forests or sawmills, does not harvest forests and has no influence over the decision-making process as to what fibre will be utilised in third party timber processing. Forests in British Columbia are harvested for lumber by timber companies under strict regulations set by the province’s government in joint decision making with indigenous First Nations. Around 94% of the province’s forests are on public land, and it is a legal requirement for these sites to be reforested in a free-growing condition.
Guardian article:
“The company has claimed that it sources wood only from “well‐managed, sustainable forests” to manufacture the pellets that are shipped from its sites in Canada and the US to be burned at its UK power plant.
“But these claims have been questioned by Britain’s energy regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority after a BBC Panorama documentary in 2022 reported that Drax had cut down primary forests in Canada to turn into wood pellets.”
Drax response:
Ofgem found no evidence that our biomass failed to meet the sustainability criteria of the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme, nor that the Renewable Obligation Certificates we received for the renewable power we produced had been provided incorrectly.
Guardian article:
“Old-growth forests are defined by the local government as areas that include trees older than 250 years in slow-growth ecosystems, or older than 140 years in ecosystems in which trees are replaced more quickly.
“Drax said in October 2023 it had stopped sourcing wood from areas designated by the government of British Columbia as “protected” or “deferred” old-growth forest stands, but it did not dispute that it was still sourcing wood from other sites containing old growth.”
Drax response:
In line with our 2025 Biomass Sourcing Policy, none of the fibre highlighted in the report came from a designated Old Growth Management Area or Old Growth Deferral Area. The fibre highlighted in Stand.earth’s report was low-grade roundwood which was rejected by sawmills following approved harvesting.
Guardian article:
The region where Drax is operating is an area where we’ve tracked a disproportionate amount of logging in high-risk forests with our satellite monitoring system Forest Eye. With how logging works here in BC, there isn’t really a way for Drax to be operating in these areas and not include old-growth forests in their wood supply. The people of the UK should know that the risk of old-growth trees being cut down to produce wood pellets is higher than ever.
Drax response:
Drax does not own forests or sawmills, does not harvest forests and has no influence over the decision-making process as to what fibre will be utilised in third party timber processing. Forests in British Columbia are harvested for lumber by timber companies under strict regulations set by the province’s government in joint decision making with indigenous First Nations.
Guardian article:
As part of the investigation, Hansen visited a biomass pellet production site, owned by a Canadian subsidiary of Drax, where the company’s reliance on whole logs was apparent.
“It was quite stark. The yards are sprawling and there were huge piles of logs there. These were large, healthy trees of different ages. We saw some trees which had been scorched by fire, but they were still alive when they were cut, which was apparent by the oozing sap.”
Drax response:
Any low-grade roundwood purchased by Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc., a subsidiary within the Drax Group (Drax), was rejected by the forest company who originally conducted the harvesting.
Drax does not own forests or sawmills, does not harvest forests and has no influence over the decision-making process as to what fibre will be utilised in third party timber processing.
Log rejection in the forest can occur for a variety of reasons including dimensions, defects, wood rot, shape and species.
Without a market for the low-grade woody fibre from forests, this material may be burnt on site at sawmills or may be left as slash (piles of timber damaged or otherwise unsuitable for lumber mills and other woody debris). Removal of debris is a tactic used as part of a wider set of activities to mitigate wildfire risk and the spreading of disease and pests in Canadian forests. But it is not a good climate or economical outcome to burn forest residue in forests or at the roadside. We believe it is far better to positively use this residual fibre to generate renewable electricity.
The Government of British Columbia states that increasing the use of lower quality fibre during primary harvesting operations “is a significant priority for the government and forest sector in British Columbia” and that increasing the use of residual fibre “supports new and existing forest industries that use lower quality timber, mitigates future timber supply shortfalls and reduces carbon emissions and smoke through decreased slash burning of post-harvest waste.”
More information on Canadian forest management:
WPAC (Wood Pellet Association of Canada) published an article calling out “misleading claims about Canada’s wood pellet industry that have surfaced again in international media.”
Gordon Murray, the Executive Director of the WPAC said, “These portrayals ignore the broader context of Canadian forest management and misrepresent how Canada’s pellet industry works within an integrated forest sector.”
