Unilever drops major palm-oil producer

BBC documentary shows Indonesian company clearing protected rainforest
Martin Hickman, The Independent 22 Feb 10;

The household goods giant Unilever has distanced itself from a major palm-oil producer after a BBC documentary filmed its staff clearing protected rainforest to make way for plantations producing the widely-used ingredient. In its second blacklisting of a palm-oil producer in three months, Unilever said it would avoid buying supplies originating from the Indonesian company Duta Palma, ensuring they did not end up in best-selling brands such as Dove soap and Flora margarine.

The move – disclosed in an edition of BBC1's Panorama tonight – comes two months after Unilever halted its contract with another Indonesia company, PT Smart, following allegations by Greenpeace that it too was destroying rainforests. Duta Palma made no comment about the BBC's evidence. Following the suspension of its Unilever contract, PT Smart admitted to "minor mistakes" and introduced stricter environmental controls.

The disclosures pose fresh questions about the effectiveness of Indonesian laws protecting wildlife-rich jungles and the industry's attempt to clean up its image. Both Duta Palma and PT Smart are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the body founded to protect the jungle and convince shoppers they can consume palm-oil products with a clear conscience.

Unilever, the world's biggest user of palm oil and a founder member of the RSPO, is one of the few companies that has bought segregated sustainable supplies. Some 97 per cent of palm oil is mixed together in refineries, making it hard for any company to state that its supply has not come from newly-deforested land.

As The Independent reported last year, half of best-selling foods such as Kit Kat and Hovis contain palm oil, but environmental groups and the British government are alarmed at the widespread damage its production causes in South-east Asia.

Of particular concern is the destruction of peat-rich land that releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases and the loss of habitat for endangered creatures such as the orangutan and snow leopard. Despite claims by the industry that its operators obey national laws protecting pristine jungle, the BBC found heavy machinery knocking down trees in a protected area of Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of the island of Borneo. "This is clear evidence of illegal logging," Mr Rowe said in the programme, to be broadcast at 8.30pm tonight.

Willie Smits, the eminent primatologist and former environmental adviser to the Indonesian government, said: "The area is classified as high conservation-value forest. It's virgin forest. Under Indonesian law, you cannot convert this high-quality forest to an oil palm plantation... This is criminal; this should not take place. It means there is no hope left for the most endangered sub-species of the orangutan in west Kalimantan."

The Indonesian government said that it would look into the footage and that it was getting tough with illegal logging.

Unilever Stops Buying Palm Oil From Indonesian Planter
Niluksi Koswanage, PlanetArk 25 Feb 10;

KUALA LUMPUR - Consumer goods giant Unilever has told dealers not to source palm oil from Indonesian planter Duta Palma on concerns over rainforest destruction, an Indonesian industry official said on Wednesday.

Unilever, the world's top palm oil buyer, blacklisted Duta Palma just two months after it halted a $33 million supply contract with Indonesia's largest producer, PT SMART

Green campaigners and consumers have turned up the heat on European firms such as Unilever, saying these companies' palm oil suppliers are responsible for deforestation and peatland clearance that can speed up climate change.

"It is Unilever's decision," Derom Bangun, vice-chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Board, told Reuters by telephone.

"Unilever did not have a supply contract with Duta Palma to begin with. They are safeguarding their supply mechanisms by asking their traders not to buy palm oil from this company after that BBC report."

The BBC documentary aired this week showed footage of Duta Palma staff clearing rainforests for oil palm estates that produce the vegetable oil used in Unilever products such as Dove soap and Stork margarine.

The documentary also cited Unilever as saying it would stop buying palm oil from Duta Palma.

Officials from Duta Palma and Unilever were not immediately available for comment.

Unilever said last year that an independent audit of palm oil suppliers in early 2009 had highlighted areas of concern to be addressed on an individual basis.

Industry watchers say Unilever's latest action could make it difficult for buyers and planters to work together in the main industry body aimed at improving palm oil's green standard, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil (RSPO).

Duta Palma and Unilever are both members of RSPO.

"It creates a lot of suspicion between the two groups," said an RSPO official in Malaysia, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"But it highlights the difficulty of trying to stay green, especially when the Indonesian government is handing out concessions to develop oil palms."

Indonesia's Agriculture Minister Suswono said last year that Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, would still expand estates despite concerns that expansion would contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Unilever consumes around 1.3 million metric tons of palm oil each year and has pledged to buy only from certified sustainable plantations from 2015. Indonesia and Malaysia account for at least 80 percent of the world's palm oil supply.

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)