DEFORESTATION INC | Major environmental auditing firms ignore or fail to recognise glaring environmental damage caused by loggers and other clients whose practices they certify as sustainable, undercutting an elaborate global system meant to fight forest destruction and climate change.

With alarming frequency, the auditors and so-called certification firms validate products linked to deforestation, logging in conflict zones, and other abuses, according to an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 39 media partners.

Certification helps the firms’ clients produce and promote teak yacht decks, high-end furniture, and other products in markets all around the world.

The ICIJ investigation, Deforestation Inc, showed how companies use...