Greenpeace campaign forces Unilever u-turn on palm oil

Amsterdam, International — Greenpeace today welcomed Unilever’s call for a moratorium on rainforest destruction in Indonesia, that is wiping out orang-utans and devastating the climate.
Amsterdam - Greenpeace welcomed Unilever’s call for a moratorium on rainforest destruction in Indonesia, that is wiping out orang-utans and devastating the climate.

In a speech delivered in London today, CEO Patrick Cescau supported Greenpeace’s demand for a complete halt to the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforest and peatlands for palm oil. He also promised that all of Unilever’s palm oil would be sustainable by 2015. However, the environmental group warned that without a halt to deforestation, Unilever’s efforts to source sustainable palm oil would be doomed to fail.

This decision follows a new Greenpeace campaign exposing how Unilever’s suppliers are actively destroying orang-utan habitats and clearing Indonesia’s peatlands and rainforests. Destruction of Indonesia’s peatland rainforests contributes 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenpeace insisted that other big corporate palm oil users and members of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (including Procter & Gamble, Kraft, and Nestle) now need to join forces with Unilever and insist that palm oil suppliers immediately agree to stop ongoing forest destruction.

Last week Greenpeace volunteers dressed as orang-utans breached security at Unilever’s headquarters across Europe to highlight the company’s role in rainforest destruction for palm oil.

Reacting to the news, Greenpeace International forest campaigner, Tim Birch said

“Unilever’s commitment to sourcing sustainable palm oil will be meaningless unless its suppliers stop trashing Indonesia’s rainforests - this is why the moratorium is so important. Every day Unilever keeps buying palm oil from these suppliers, orang-utans are being pushed closer to extinction and climate change continues unabated.

Other companies like Nestle and Procter&Gamble now need to join forces with Unilever to exert real pressure on the ground. Greenpeace will not stop its campaign until there is a complete halt to forest destruction in Indonesia.”