01
May 2008 - International — Despite insisting
a week ago that they wouldn’t be bounced
into taking action, Unilever boss, Patrick
Cescau performed a swift about turn today
and announced that his company is supporting
our call for a moratorium – a complete halt
– on rainforest destruction in Indonesia.
A moratorium would buy time, and allow proper
regulations to be put in place that protect
the rainforest in years to come. Unilever’s
announcement is potentially good news for
orang-utans and for the climate.
Speaking at the May
Day Climate Change Summit attended by Prince
Charles and the UK Prime Minister Gordon
Brown, he also promised that all of Unilever’s
palm oil would be sustainably sourced by
2015. Although we’ve already warned him
that promises of sustainable palm oil will
amount to nothing unless Unilever’s suppliers
stop trashing Indonesia’s rainforests. Now
we want to see some of the other big palm
oil buyers, like Nestle and Procter &
Gamble, join with Unilever to create change
on the ground.
Only last week, we launched
a new campaign asking Unilever, the company
behind some of the world’s most famous brands
including Dove, to join us in pushing for
a moratorium on rainforest destruction in
Indonesia.
Monkey business
Early morning Monday
April 21st, Unilever’s workers in the UK,
the Netherlands and Italy, were greeted
by our very own screeching orang-utans clambering
over their headquarters. The orang-utans
aim? To highlight one of the biggest environmental
crimes of our time – the destruction of
their homes for, amongst other things, our
beauty products.
The destruction of the
world’s rainforests and peatlands to make
way for increased palm-oil plantations is
driving climate change and pushing species,
such as the orang-utan, to the brink of
extinction. Every time rainforest is trashed,
huge amounts of greenhouse gases are released
into the atmosphere. The destruction of
rainforests accounts for a fifth of all
greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than
all the planes, trains and cars in the world.
Tens of thousands of
people joined in by signing our open letter
to Dove, contacting Unilever directly and
spreading the word.
"One big reason Unilever is taking
this seriously so quickly is thanks to all
of you who signed our open letter or contacted
Unilever directly - your support is vital,"
said Tim Birch, Greenpeace forests campaigner.
"To get real on the ground protection
for Indonesia's forests, we need everyone's
help to keep the pressure up - working together
we can save these forests, the orang-utans
and the climate".
Palm oil and forest
destruction
Rampant expansion of
palm oil plantations is the leading cause
of rainforest destruction in Indonesia.
Unilever, as the world’s biggest consumer
of palm oil, is driving this expansion and
as a result is fuelling rainforest destruction.
For every 20 litres of palm oil produced
in Indonesia, one litre ends up in Unilever’s
hands.
The main problem is
that Unilever continues to buy palm oil
from dodgy suppliers who burn rainforest
and drain peatlands that are protected under
Indonesian law to clear space for more plantations.
Having lost their homes, orang-utans are
forced to look elsewhere for food and often
palm plantations are the nearest source.
It’s estimated that over 1600 orang-utans
were killed on palm oil plantations in 2006
alone.
The proof
To coincide with the
launch of the campaign we published a new
report – ‘How Unilever’s suppliers are Burning
up Borneo’ - containing new evidence from
field research carried out by Greenpeace
which showing the devastating effect that
the palm oil sector is having on biodiversity.
By mapping out areas controlled by Unilever’s
suppliers, the report explains how the companies
with direct links are now clearing the last
remaining orang-utan habitats.
What's next
So, where now for our
campaign? Well, whilst we think Unilever
has made a good first step, we need to keep
up the pressure to make sure that they stop
trading with rainforest destroying suppliers
and more importantly that some of the other
big companies, like Nestle and Procter &
Gamble get onboard.
They need to act fast
– orang-utan numbers have already declined
by 90 percent and time to save the climate
is running out. It’s going to take serious
and fast action by the big corporate players,
like Unilever, as well as the political
clout of governments to deliver the sorts
of changes we need to see. With your help,
we'll continue to keep up the pressure on
Unilever and other companies to make sure
we see real action on the ground and an
end to rainforest destruction.
