Once you pop, you can't
stop - 08 November 2007 - Indonesia — If,
as you read this, you're tucking into a
KitKat or dipping into a tube of Pringles,
you might be interested to know that these
products contain palm oil that is linked
to the destruction of forests and peatlands
in Indonesia. As our new report "How
the palm oil industry is cooking the climate"
shows, it's a recipe for disaster.
The manufacturers of these products - Nestlé,
Procter & Gamble, and Unilever - are
sourcing their palm oil from suppliers who
aren't picky about where they site their
plantations. As the volunteers at the Forest
Defenders Camp in Sumatra have seen, this
includes tearing up areas of pristine forest
then draining and burning the peatlands.
Indonesia's peatlands act as huge carbon
stores so replacing them with plantations
them not only threatens the amazing biodiversity,
including the rare Sumatran tiger, it also
releases huge volumes of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere. They only cover 0.1
per cent of the land on Earth, but thanks
in part to the activities of the palm oil
industry they contribute 4 per cent to global
emissions. If expansion of the palm oil
industry continues unabated, that figure
can only rise.
All this is a little unnerving as the three
companies mentioned above are members of
the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO),
a group of retailers, manufacturers and
suppliers who also include multinational
suppliers Cargill and ADM. The aim of the
group is to create clear standards for producing
sustainable palm oil but at present those
standards are far too weak to ensure that
forests and peatlands are not destroyed
to meet growing demand for palm oil.
We have more information about the problems
with palm oil, and if you still have questions
try the palm oil FAQ. We will be asking
retailers and food companies to stop trading
with those suppliers who are trashing the
forests and peatlands of Indonesia, and
when that happens we will be asking for
your help.
Global problem, Global solution?
What's to be done? The Indonesian government
should urgently introduce a moratorium on
forest and peatland destruction, which will
provide a chance to develop long-term solutions
and prevent further emissions from deforestation.
And our eyes are fixed firmly on the UN
climate meeting in Bali next month, where
the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol will
be discussed. With deforestation accounting
for up to a fifth of global emissions, including
financing for forest protection as a core
part of the plan to tackle climate change
is essential.
"At next month's UN climate conference
in Bali, political leaders must wake up
to the fact that we need to make deep cuts
in greenhouse gas emissions, and make them
fast," said Pat Venditti, head of Greenpeace
International's Forest Campaign. "Protecting
peatlands and other forest areas from destruction
is one of the most simple, cost-effective
insurance options against global warming."
The international scientific consensus
on climate change is that avoiding the worst
impacts of climate change demands global
warming be kept as far as possible below
2 degrees Celsius. Emissions of greenhouse
gases need to have peaked globally by 2015
and then begin a rapid decline.
We need governments meeting in Bali to
agree to negotiate a new funding mechanism
to protect the world's remaining tropical
forests as a critical component of the next
phase of the Kyoto Protocol. The resulting
reductions in emissions from deforestation
must be additional to cuts in emissions
from burning fossil fuels.
