A wide variety of Nestlé products contain ingredients derived
from palm oil.*
Nestlé uses palm oil to make a wide array of its
products including Power Bar, Coffee Mate, Nestle Crunch Crisp,
and Maggi Soup mixes. In the last three years, Nestlé's use of
palm oil has nearly doubled.
A growing demand for palm oil globally is fueling the
destruction of rainforests in Indonesia to make way for expanding
palm plantations. Fire is often used to clear forests, causing
massive, polluting blazes. Illegal canals are cut into ancient
peatlands, draining water and releasing methane and other potent
greenhouse gases.
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here to tell Nestlé to stop destroying rainforests for palm
oil
Vast tracts of Indonesian rainforest
are being destroyed to make way for palm oil palm plantations.
The destruction of Paradise Forests is taking place at a
break-neck pace. In 2007, Indonesia received a World Record from
the Guiness Book for the worst deforestation rate in history.
Meanwhile, the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from forest and
peatland destruction has made Indonesia the world's largest climate
polluter after China and the United States.
Channels like these are dug by
plantation companies to drain carbon-rich peatland, before the area
is cleared and burnt in preparation for planting.
The expansion of palm oil plantations is also putting people
directly at risk. Much of the forest and peatland destruction is
illegal, running over the rights and livelihoods of local
communities and indigenous peoples who have depended on
Paradise Forests for thousands of years.
On top of that, dwindling habitat is pushing sensitive wildlife
like Sumatran tigers and critically endangered
orangutans closer to extinction.
Nestlé palm oil supplier Sinar Mas is
responsible for considerable rainforest and orangutan habitat
destruction.
Sinar Mas: Notorious Forest Destroyer
Sinar Mas is the largest producer of
palm oil in Indonesia. It supplies many food, drink, cosmetic and
biofuel companies worldwide, including Nestlé. Sinar Mas is also
breaking Indonesian law by clearing protected forests for
its palm oil plantations.
Update 04/27/10: We've just released a report
detailing new evidence of Sinar Mas' rainforest and peatland
destruction.
The Greenpeace report "Caught Red-Handed: How Nestle's Use of Palm Oil
is Having a Devastating Impact on Rainforest, the Climate and
Orangutans" exposes the links between Nestlé and palm oil
suppliers, including Sinar Mas, that are expanding their
plantations into carbon-rich peatlands and rainforests.
Palm oil producers like Sinar Mas are
destroying vast tracts of rainforest for palm oil, pushing
orang-utans to the brink of extinction, endangering local
communities' survival and accelerating climate change.
None of this should come as a surprise to Nestlé. Greenpeace has
contacted the company with evidence of Sinar Mas' destructive
practices many times. Despite this, Nestlé continues to use Sinar
Mas' palm oil in its products internationally. Other leading
companies have stopped buying from Sinar Mas as a result of its
shocking environmental and social practices. Food and cosmetics
giant Unilever canceled a $30 million dollar contract in
2009, while Kraft canceled its contract with Sinar Mas in
February of 2010.
Bottom line: It is time for Nestlé to stop buying palm oil that
comes from rainforest destruction. As the largest food and drink
company in the world, Nestlé should be setting an example for the
industry and pushing for the protection of Paradise Forests.
Read the full report: "Caught Red-Handed: How
Nestlé's Use of Palm Oil is Having a Devastating Impact on
Rainforest, The Climate and Orang-utans"
*Globally, KIT KAT is one of the best-known Nestlé products
containing palm oil. In the United States, KIT KAT is licensed to
Hershey Foods Corporation through an original agreement executed
with Rowntree Products in 1969. In 1988, Nestlé purchased Rowntree
and markets KIT KAT products worldwide outside of the United
States. The Greenpeace report "Caught Red-Handed: How Nestlé Use of
Palm Oil is Destroying Rainforests and the Climate" does not
examine Hershey Foods Corporation palm oil sourcing.
Take action
Tell Nestlé to stop using palm oil that comes from companies that are destroying rainforests.
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