{"id":6680,"date":"2018-12-11T14:11:55","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T19:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=6680"},"modified":"2019-11-06T03:28:14","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:28:14","slug":"breakthrough-as-worlds-largest-palm-oil-trader-gives-forest-destroyers-nowhere-to-hide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/6680\/breakthrough-as-worlds-largest-palm-oil-trader-gives-forest-destroyers-nowhere-to-hide\/","title":{"rendered":"Breakthrough as world\u2019s largest palm oil trader gives forest destroyers nowhere to hide"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an intensive global campaign by Greenpeace, Wilmar International has published a detailed action plan to map and monitor its palm oil suppliers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Singapore, Monday 10 December 2018<\/strong> – The world\u2019s largest palm oil trader, Wilmar International, has published a detailed action plan<\/a> to map and monitor all of its suppliers. If implemented, this would put the palm oil giant, which supplies 40% of the world\u2019s palm oil, one step closer to finally eliminating deforestation from its supply chain and would have a major impact on the rest of the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilmar supplies palm oil to most of the world\u2019s major food and cosmetics brands. So today\u2019s announcement is a potential breakthrough. If Wilmar keeps its word, by the end of 2019 it will be using satellites to monitor all of its palm oil suppliers, making it almost impossible for them to get away with forest destruction. Greenpeace will be watching closely to make sure Wilmar delivers,\u201d said Kiki Taufik, Global Head of Indonesian Forests Campaign, Greenpeace Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

The move follows an intensive global campaign by Greenpeace that aimed to end deforestation for palm oil across the supply chain of the biggest household brands and palm oil buyers in the world. Over 1.3 million people signed a Greenpeace petition calling for an end to deforestation for palm oil.<\/p>\n

In the past three months, activists occupied Wilmar\u2019s refinery in Indonesia<\/a> and twice boarded a tanker ship<\/a> carrying Wilmar’s palm oil products. Greenpeace Italy blockaded the factory<\/a> of one of its major customers, Mondelez (owner of Oreo, Cadbury and Ritz). Activists across the world also brought scenes of forest destruction to Mondelez HQs around the world.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace is now pausing its campaign to give Wilmar space to put this plan into action.<\/p>\n

Forest destruction for commodity production is fuelling a climate and extinction crisis. Scientists warn that keeping global warming below a 1.5\u00baC rise means ending deforestation and restoring forests. Brands and traders promised to clean up their supply chains by 2020. [1] However, with less than 400 days to go companies are still failing across the board, in part because traders and their customers failed to gather the maps of their suppliers\u2019 plantations needed to monitor what happens on the ground.<\/p>\n

Wilmar\u2019s new action plan is designed to address that gap: it commits Wilmar to map its suppliers\u2019 entire landbank by the end of 2019, including concessions from which it does not yet source, and to use high-resolution satellite monitoring to check for deforestation. Companies caught clearing rainforest are to be immediately suspended.<\/p>\n

Wilmar\u2019s announcement puts pressure on the rest of the sector, including other major commodities traders like Golden Agri Resources and Musim Mas that also source palm oil from forest destroyers. Household brands like Mondelez, Nestl\u00e9 and Unilever, source from many different suppliers and have a responsibility to see equivalent commitments rolled out across the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the world wakes up to the climate and extinction crisis, inaction is not an option. Wilmar has taken an important step and must now put its plan into action immediately. Stopping deforestation requires industry-wide action. Other traders and brands must now follow with credible plans to map and monitor all of their suppliers. Equally important is action to end exploitation and human rights abuses in the palm oil sector,\u201d said Taufik.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

Notes to editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1] In December 2010, members of the Consumer Goods Forum, an industry association comprising 450 of the biggest consumer-facing brands, committed to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains of agricultural commodities<\/a> by 2020, including cattle, palm oil, pulp and soya products.<\/p>\n

In December 2013, Wilmar became the first palm oil trader to adopt a \u2018no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation<\/a>\u2019 policy that applied to its own plantations and those of its suppliers. By the end of 2014, all major palm oil traders had adopted similar policies. Yet deforestation for palm oil continues because traders and their customers lack the maps needed to monitor what happens on the ground.<\/p>\n

Campaign timeline<\/strong><\/p>\n

In September, Greenpeace Southeast Asia activists occupied Wilmar\u2019s palm oil refinery<\/a> on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi with a rock band and street artists painted murals<\/a> in cities around the world to highlight the threat to birds of paradise.<\/p>\n

In November, activists twice boarded and delayed a tanker ship<\/a> loaded with Wilmar\u2019s palm oil products. Protests also took place at Mondelez offices in Italy, Germany, the UK and the USA, and street activities<\/a> in 8 countries.<\/p>\n

Evidence against Wilmar and Mondelez was documented in a series of reports, including June\u2019s Rogue Trader<\/a>, September\u2019s Final Countdown<\/a> and November\u2019s Dying for a Cookie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace has campaigned to end deforestation for palm oil since 2007<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Palm oil impacts on environment, people and climate<\/strong><\/p>\n