A viscose shirt and a roll of toilet paper are two very different products, but they have one thing in common. They’re both made from wood fibre – a commodity that is in growing demand, placing undue pressure on forests, environmentalists warn. According to Canopy… more than 300 million trees are felled every year, including from some of the world’s most biodiversity-rich forests, to make wood-based fibres for the fashion industry. …“Reducing dependency on forests and forest-based fibres just makes business sense from a resiliency perspective,” says Canopy founder Nicole Rycroft. As the devastating wildfires in Europe and North America have demonstrated, “this is a fibre basket that is literally going up in smoke”. She expects the EU’s deforestation regulation to increase competition for the wood, driving up cost. In addition, viscose production is chemically intensive, so closure of the Strait of Hormuz has also pushed up prices. [To access the full story a Reuters subscription is required]