Forest to furniture: a sustainable journey in home improvement

Caroline Laurie

Caroline Laurie is Group Head of Sustainability at Kingfisher plc where she leads sustainability strategy across the business, drives the delivery of sustainable wood and paper sourcing and supports reforestation projects such as the Harapan rainforest in Indonesia. Caroline is a CIMA qualified accountant and joined the Kingfisher team in 2005, starting out as a buyer at B&Q she gained first-hand experience of ethical and sustainable sourcing for wood and paper products. Following a promotion to category manager she was instrumental in the decision to remove all gas patio heaters from sale across B&Q stores nationwide and later went on to help customers reduce their home energy use through intelligent product developments and installed solutions. Caroline has a passion for sailing and in her spare time you’ll often find her cruising and racing on the Solent.

Her reason for optimism on the future of forests: In the past year there has been a sea change in the response of society and big business in relation to forests and climate change. Increasingly businesses are realising that they must act responsibly and take action when it comes to protecting the world’s precious resources.