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Longtime target of green groups, Cargill, to supply sustainably-certified palm oil to Unilever Jeremy Hance mongabay.com July 30, 2010
"Our agreement with Unilever is the result of both companies' strong commitment to supporting responsible supply chains. As the demand for certified sustainable palm oil continues to grow, we are combining our supply chain expertise and industry knowledge to provide customers with choices to meet their particular requirements," said Paul Naar, head of Cargill's food business in Europe in a press release on the agreement. In May the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) released a damning report alleging that Cargill was linked to two palm oil plantations that were participating in illegal deforestation and the destruction of peat forests. Cargill denied the allegations, releasing a point-by-point rebuttal, however this most recent move may be seen as attempting to undercut further criticism.
While, RAN clearly sees this as a step forward it warns that RSPO-certification may not go far enough to ensure sustainability. Some green groups have quietly criticized RSPO standards and practices, while others work closely with the group to improve the industry. "We remain concerned, however, that the RSPO's standards are not yet strong enough to assure customers that this palm oil is entirely free from forest destruction or other environmental damage," Salazar-Lopez says. Yet even with this new development, Salazar-Lopez argues that Cargill has a long way to go before conservation groups stop targeting it. "As long as Cargill continues to buy from disreputable companies like the Sinar Mas Group, their customers cannot be sure that their purchases are untainted by forest destruction."
Used in everything from food products to soap to cosmetics, palm oil is the world's most productive oil seed (far outstripping soy, which is linked to deforestation in the Amazon), yet it is responsible for a significant percentage of deforestation in Southeast Asia. For example, a study in Conservation Letters found that 55-59 percent of palm oil plantations in Malaysia built between 1990 and 2009 occurred on forested land. While the palm oil industry is worth tens of billions of US dollars in Indonesia and Malaysia, it has created an environmental crisis: biodiversity loss in some of the world's richest habitats, conflict with indigenous groups who depend on the forests for their livelihood, and sizeable greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas, largely due to the destruction of carbon-rich forests.
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(04/07/2010) The world's biggest buyer of palm oil, Unilever, says it will again purchase palm oil from PT SMART, a subsidiary of Indonesian company Sinar Mas, if allegations about deforestation and peatland destruction prove untrue, or if Sinar Mas shows it is addressing the issue. Last December, the food and cosmetic giant, Unilever, suspended its $32.6 million contract with Sinar Mas after an independent audit—spurred by a 2008 Greenpeace report—showed that the Indonesian company was involved in the illegal destruction of rainforests and peatlands. Yet the company now seems to be signaling that the contract is back on the table even as it touts its sustainability efforts to the public.
(02/07/2010) Deforestation is increasingly correlated to urban population growth and trade rather than rural poverty, suggesting that measures proposed to reduce deforestation will be ineffective if they fail to address demand for commodities produced on forest lands, argues a new paper published in Nature GeoScience.
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