Nestlé continues
to use palm oil that comes from destroyed
forests - 23 March 2010 - Nestlé
has remained relatively silent since issuing
its initial statement of contract cancellations
with palm oil supplier Sinar Mas. This is
despite the fact that it is still receiving
a barrage of complaints and criticism
via its Facebook page from people who recognize
that Nestlé's concessions made last
week are not enough to protect Indonesia's
rainforests.
The contract cancellations
do not go nearly far enough to protect Indonesian
rainforests because Nestlé will still
be using Sinar Mas palm oil, but just getting
it from other suppliers.
In response to the ongoing
criticism it has faced online Nestlé
also began to circulate a Q & A on its
palm oil use, which also included its commitment
to using only "Certified Sustainable
PAlm Oil" by 2015. Again, this is not
a solution and it does go far enough. 2015
will be far too late for the already endangered
orang-utan and Indonesia's rainforests -
which are being deforested at the fastest
rate of any major forested country in the
world. Earning Indonesia an unfortunate
place in The Guinness Book of World Records.
We will continue our
campaign until they have removed Sinar Mas
palm oil from their supply chain completely.
Nestlé has much more to do before
it can claim to have cleaned up its act
and given rainforests a break. The online
commmunity that has taken up this cause
certainly agrees. Since the launch Nestlé
has faced continuing criticism online, first
for its reaction to our 'Have a break?'
video and then its mishandling of comments
on its Facebook page.
Only a few hours after
the launch of our spoof Kit Kat video Nestlé
had it removed from YouTube - but this did
not stop the video from being seen by thousands.
After thirty hours the total number of views
on the different versions of the video was
over 180.000. It was re-posted many times
over by people determined to get the word
out that Nestle needs to clean up its act.
As of today, 670.000 people have seen it
and this number continues to climb.
This all followed protests
on March 17th which took place across Europe
as around one hundred Greenpeace activists,
some dressed as orang-utans, went to Nestlé's
headquarters and factories in the UK, Germany
and the Netherlands. They called on Nestlé
staff to urge the company to stop using
palm oil that's the result of forest destruction.
Nestlé uses palm
oil in a wide array of its products – including
Kit Kat. Demand for palm oil has been increasing
so much that the companies that sell it
are leveling rainforests in Indonesia to
make way for palm oil plantations.
We need those rainforests.
They play a crucial role in regulating our
climate and absorbing CO2. The companies
that produce palm oil are cutting down the
lungs of the planet and contributing to
making Indonesia the third largest carbon
emitter after the United States and China.
Yes, you read that right.
Deforestation is actually responsible for
more carbon emissions than all the cars,
trucks, planes, and automobiles in the world:
1/5 of total emissions.
But that’s not all.
Deforestation is also trashing orang-utan
habitat, pushing this already endangered
species to the brink of extinction, and
destroying the livelihoods of local people.
Nestlé’s palm
oil supplier Sinar Mas is responsible for
considerable rainforest and orang-utan habitat
destruction.
Bottom line: it’s time
for Nestlé to give rainforests a
break and stop buying palm oil that comes
from destroyed forests.
Nestlé is the
largest food and drinks company in the world,
and already a major consumer of palm oil
– the last three years have seen Nestlé’s
use of palm oil almost double. Considering
its size and influence, it should be setting
an example for the industry and ensuring
its palm oil is destruction free. Instead,
palm oil from destroyed forests reamin in
Nestlé's supply chain despite its
announcement of contract cancellations with
Sinar Mas, because other Nestlé suppliers
buy from Sinar Mas.
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.
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 Indonsian law by clearing
protected forests for its palm oil plantations.
Greenpeace’s new report
launched today – ‘Caught Red-Handed: How
Nestlé’s Use of Palm Oil is Having
a Devastating Impact on Rainforest, the
Climate and Orang-utans’ – exposes the links
between Nestlé and palm oil suppliers,
including Sinar Mas, that are expanding
their plantations into carbon-rich peatlands
and rainforests. Not only are these areas
key habitat for orang-utans, but also crucial
carbon stores; the destruction of these
areas is a major cause of Indonesia’s rocketing
carbon emissions.
Vast tracts of Indonesian
rainforest are being destroyed to make way
for palm oil palm plantations.
None of this should
come as a surprise to Nestlé. We
have contacted them with evidence of Sinar
Mas’s practices many times, most recently
in December, yet Nestlé will continue
to use Sinar Mas palm oil in its products,
including Kit Kat because its other palm
oil suppliers - like Cargill - buy from
Sinar Mas.
We know consumer activism
works: we’ve seen it again and again. The
media coverage we've seen in recent days
of the online activism happening on Nestlé's
Facebook page is proof that the voices of
consumers can be powerful. And we know that
if enough of us tell Nestlé that
we’re not going to put up with any monkeying
around, they will do the right thing. But
we need you to keep telling them. And we
need you to tell your friends to tell them.
Channels like these
are dug by plantation companies to drain
carbon-rich peatland, before the area is
cleared and burnt in preparation for planting.
Nestlé continues
to use palm oil from major forest destroyers
like Sinar Mas, despite their announcement.
Ask them to remove rainforest destruction
palm oil from their supply chains completely
by engaging with the palm oil industry and
Indonesian government to call for peatland
protection, and an immediate end to deforestation.