Greenpeace Criticizes Palm Oil Producers
Environmental group Greenpeace has called out major manufacturers of household products for refusing to disclose where they source their palm oil, despite vows to stop buying from companies that cut down tropical forests.
Greenpeace said it asked 16 major brands to reveal their suppliers of palm oil, which is mainly grown in Indonesia and Malaysia and used in consumer products ranging from snacks to cosmetics. It said eight disclosed the information and eight refused.
International consumer goods companies are “way off track” in meeting a 2010 commitment to remove deforestation-linked palm oil from their supply chains by 2020, the environmental group stressed, adding that, “corporate commitments and polices have proliferated, but companies have largely failed to implement them.”
Among the companies that have agreed to publicly disclose their sources, Greenpeace lists Colgate-Palmolive, General Mills, Mars, Mondelez, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever. Among the eight that refused were Ferrero, Hershey, Kellogg’s, Kraft Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, PZ Cussons and Smucker, it said.
According to Greenpeace, organizations representing the palm oil industry in Indonesia and Malaysia have dismissed opposition their product as a protectionist effort by rival industries in Western nations, saying that their participation in sustainability in initiatives is evidence they take conservation and other commitments seriously.
The organization said neither industry initiatives nor governments can be relied on to prevent palm oil producers from clearing forests as there are too many players along the chain that have vested interests.
