Last month, I went to Greenpeace’s Climate Defenders Camp, located on the Kempar Peninsula, to see first hand the destruction of Indonesia’s peatlands. The area, which is ground zero for climate change, has one of the fastest rates of forest loss in the world, and its destruction accounts for 4 percent of global human induced greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the worst offenders in the area is Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer, which has been persistently engaging in widespread illegal deforestation and peatland clearance. Sinar Mas has been hiding behind the cover of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which is supposed to be pushing for sustainable policies for palm oil production, but instead provides PR cover for forest offenders.
But a new Greenpeace investigation shows evidence that Sinar Mas is committing forest crimes and is in violation of RSPO policies. As a result, one of their biggest customers, the giant Unilever corporation (makers of Ben & Jerry’s, among other top brands), has decided to stop buying palm oil from Sinar Mas.
Earlier this year, Gandi Sulistiyanto, one of Sinar Mas’ managing directors, told Reuters that, “We should have been arrested if we had ever been involved in deforestation.” Mr. Sulistiyanto may consider getting fitted for striped pajamas because there is no doubt now that Sinar Mas is destroying one of the world’s most important carbon sinks.
As leaders meet in Copenhagen to agree to a new climate treaty, the Unilever news should be a reminder to them that we can’t solve climate change without stopping deforestation. The best way to do that is to create a fund that gives incentives to countries to keep their forests standing. Now, of course, trees only have value after they are cut down.
Greenpeace is calling on President Yudhoyono to implement an immediate moratorium on any further destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests and peat lands. He has the ideal platform to make this commitment when he attends the UN Summit where forest protection to decrease global emissions will be discussed. Greenpeace is promoting the creation of a global fund to end deforestation in countries like Indonesia and Brazil, which requires industrialized countries to invest $45 billion annually in forest protection.
