Drax has pushed back against allegations about its Canadian biomass supply chain following coverage of a Stand.earth report in The Guardian.
The company’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Miguel Veiga-Pestana, wrote to the newspaper to challenge what he described as misconceptions about the firm’s role in Canadian forestry. An excerpt of his response appeared in The Guardian on 21 November, and the full statement has now been released.
Veiga-Pestana said the environmental group had misrepresented the nature of Canada’s forestry sector and Drax’s involvement in it. He stressed that the company does not own forests or sawmills, nor does it control where harvesting is permitted.
According to Drax, 81% of the fibre it sourced in Canada in 2024 was made up of sawdust and other by-products from sawmills producing construction timber and similar goods. The remaining 19% consisted of forest residues such as low-grade roundwood, branches, tops and bark.
Forestry in British Columbia is carried out by timber firms operating under regulations set by the provincial government, which works jointly with Indigenous First Nations on land-use decisions. Around 94% of the province’s forests are publicly owned, and reforestation to a “free-growing” condition is legally required.
Veiga-Pestana argued that failing to actively manage forests is not a viable conservation strategy, pointing to the major wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, last year, which caused an estimated USD 880 million in damage and released substantial carbon emissions.
He added that the material highlighted in the Stand.earth report consisted of low-grade roundwood rejected by sawmills after authorised harvesting.
Without the biomass sector making use of this wood, he said, it would typically be burned on site to reduce wildfire risk.
Using it to generate renewable electricity, he argued, was a preferable option.
Drax also stated that none of the fibre in question came from designated old-growth management or deferral areas.
Drax rejects claims over Canadian biomass sourcing
