IKEA’s certification model faces limits under EU deforestation rules

Furniture retailer IKEA will need to expand its timber traceability systems to comply with the European Union’s incoming deforestation rules, which introduce stricter due diligence requirements than existing certification frameworks. The EU’s EU Deforestation Regulation, scheduled to apply from Dec. 31, 2026, requires companies to provide geolocation data demonstrating that wood and other commodities were not sourced from land deforested after December 2020. IKEA, one of the world’s largest users of wood, processed around 15 million cubic metres of timber in its 2025 financial year. The company states that more than 96% of this volume ...