by 4 February 2016
Last year some two million hectares of land in Indonesia went up in flames across Sumatra, Borneo, and the Western half of New Guinea. The conflagrations caused choking air pollution,…
Part four in a five-part series on the attitudes of palm oil financiers towards company sustainability. Read the first, second, third and fifth installments. he previous article in this series discussed the role of governments and regulators…
Part three in a five-part series on the attitudes of palm oil financiers towards company sustainability. Read the first, second, fourth and fifth installments. he question of materiality — whether an issue affects a company’s finances…
Part two in a five-part series on the attitudes of palm oil financiers towards company sustainability. Read the first, third, fourth and fifth installments. vidence suggests that environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk assessment…
Part one in a five-part series on the attitudes of oil palm financiers towards company sustainability. Read the second, third, fourth and fifth installments. ithin the sustainability sector, finance is increasingly being seen as…
A Malaysian palm oil company has suspended forest clearing on a small portion of its holdings to comply with Wilmar's zero deforestation policy, reports The Edge Financial Daily. Jaya Tiasa…
There have been a lot of high-profile pledges to halt deforestation from both the public and private sector lately, but new research shows just how far we still are from…
Green groups are pressuring PepsiCo to stop letting joint venture partners such as Indonesia’s biggest food company use its brand for products made with so-called conflict palm oil. The Rainforest…
The international effort to contain wildfires in Indonesia continued on Thursday as a senior government minister indicated the country would look to relax no-deforestation commitments taken up by palm oil…
For the past three years, Greenpeace Brazil has been collecting signatures in support of a bill that would establish zero deforestation as the law of the land. Last Wednesday, accompanied…
With fire-driven haze casting a pall over Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, the palm oil industry is facing intense pressure to clean up its act. While most big companies have adopted…
ommercial agriculture causes more than two-thirds of deforestation worldwide, which has led to much scrutiny and numerous calls for change. Both private industry and governments have made many promises to…
As Southeast Asia’s annual haze problem once again makes headlines, this time even leading to arrests of company officials allegedly connected to the illegal agricultural fires that create the smog,…
Cargill announced a new forest policy yesterday to establish guidelines for removing deforestation from its supply chain. The policy is meant to satisfy commitments made by the company as part…
Two giant retailers and a major baking company have announced new policies that establish stronger guidelines for palm oil sourcing. As reported by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Target…
osmetics giant Avon promised today to purge its palm oil supply chain of deforestation and rights abuses, making it the latest in a wave of major producers and consumers of the…
A rainforest river in Malaysia's Sabah state. Photo: Rhett A. Butler Sateri has become the latest major viscose producer to adopt a new wood- and pulp-sourcing policy aimed at removing…
Over the past two years dozens of companies have established "zero-deforestation" or "deforestation-free" policies for the commodities they source, trade, and produce. The pace of adoption has been staggeringly fast…
Publicly-traded firm suspends new business with company planning to clear peatlands in Sarawak Palm oil growers who plan to convert peatlands and rainforests for new plantations have been warned: one…
Less than three weeks after APRIL unveiled a sustainability policy that is supposed to protect natural forests, an environmental group is alleging that one of the Indonesian forestry giant's subsidiaries…
June 23 update BLD Plantation Bhd, a Malaysian palm oil company, plans to clear some 14,000 hectares of peatlands in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, potentially putting it in…
Global Forest Watch image showing the region in West Papua where the clearing took place Agribusiness giants Cargill and Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) are pledging to investigate a palm oil supplier…
Acacia plantation in Riau. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Greenpeace is re-engaging with Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) after the Indonesian forestry giant quickly responded to the killing of a…
A high profile pledge by the world's largest meat company to limit deforestation for cattle production in the Amazon appears to be working, resulting in a dramatic increase in compliance…
Due to its widening impact on tropical forests yet high profit margins, palm oil is one of the most polarizing crops in the tropics. Scientists and environmentalists warn of the…
Summary of main pressures on forests in different deforestation fronts. Graphics courtesy of WWF's LIVING FORESTS REPORT: SAVING FORESTS AT RISK. Click to enlarge. Environmental group WWF has released a…
Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysian Borneo. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Last week, the London-based think tank Innovation Forum convened a two-day conference on the subject of sustainable…
Fast food giant McDonald's will combat deforestation across its main commodity supply chains, including palm oil, beef, paper and packaging, coffee, and poultry. The commitment is the most comprehensive of…
Industrial rubber plantation in Colombia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Surging demand for natural rubber is decimating some of the world's most endangered forests, putting wildlife and critical ecosystem services…
Google Earth image showing GPS points where forest loss occurred within the past year in a West Kalimantan concession held by PT Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH). The apparent loss of…
