Unilever: No plans to cut palm oil supply ties with IOI

Mon, March 29th 2010
Source: Reuters UK

* Unilever says contacted IOI over Friends of Earth report

* Unilever says Malaysia’s IOI a very responsible supplier

* Friends of the Earth’s claims are inaccurate -IOI Corp

By Niluksi Koswanage

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Reuters) – Consumer goods giant Unilever (UNc.AS)(ULVR.L) said it would not cancel palm oil supply contracts with Malaysia’s IOI (IOIB.KL) and that it was confident the planter would address concerns over logging forests raised by a green group.

IOI Corp, Malaysia’s No. 2 planter, had dismissed the report by Friends of the Earth that it cleared rainforests on Borneo island to expand, saying the allegations were inaccurate. [ID:nSGE62P0E1]

“We believe IOI is a very responsible supplier and are confident that if there is truth in the current allegations, IOI will address them,” Unilever Head of Sustainability Jan-Kees Vis told Reuters in an emailed response on Monday.

“There are no plans to cancel any contracts with IOI.”

Unilever, the world’s top palm oil buyer, has so far blacklisted two Indonesian suppliers after verifying reports of the firms felling forests and clearing peatlands to expand — practices that release global warming emissions.

Unilever, which uses palm oil for products like Dove soap and Stork margarine, said it contacted IOI over the report and welcomed the step of IOI and the green group meeting “face to face” to discuss the issue.

The Anglo-Dutch firm buys about 1.5 million tonnes of palm oil annually, or 3 percent of global palm oil production, making it a the top consumer in the world.

IOI owns about 80,000 hectares of land on the Indonesia side of Borneo island — a resource rich, forested region that is the frontline for expanding oil palm estates.

The Friends of the Earth report also claimed that IOI practiced open burning and drained peatlands, prompting the firm’s key customer Neste Oil (NES1V.HE) to say it would conduct its own probe into the matter. [ID:nSGE62N01P]

IOI supplies palm oil to the Finnish refiner’s biofuel plants in Europe.

IOI said in a statement on Friday, without going into the details, that it had set up a clear action list and timeframe to address Friends of the Earth’s remaining concerns after meeting with the green group.

Both Unilever and Neste Oil have said their supply contracts with palm oil firms include clauses that allow for termination of the agreement if the suppliers are found to be damaging the environment. (Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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Sarawak Orangutans Found Only In Three Specific Habitats

SIBU, March 28 (Bernama) — The Sarawak Orang Utan are only found in three specific habitats and not all over the state jungles, Dr.Penguang Manggil, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Environment and Public Health said.

The Orang Utan in Sarawak were only found in the Lantjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, the Batang Ai National Park and the Sebuyau National Park, he said to correct the misconception that they existed everywhere.

He said the misconception had caused westerners to believe that the animals were adversely affected by economic development, namely the creation of more oil palm plantations statewide.

In addition, the government had placed these animals under its “Totally Protected Animal” whereby offenders could be fined RM30,000 and jailed for two years for hunting them,” he told a candlelight news conference here last night after the Earth Hour event here Saturday night.

Penguang said there were an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Orang Utan living in the three habitats, of which the Lantjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary and the Batang Ai National Park share common borders with the Kalimantan Indonesia.

– BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=485904

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Video: Toronto Zoo?s Jahe the Orangutan is Moving to Memphis!

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CNN: Greenpeace, Nestlé in battle over Kit Kat viral

By Paul Armstrong, CNN
March 20, 2010
Learn more and see videos at the source: CNN

A video clip which shows an office worker opening a Kit Kat chocolate bar and finding an orangutan’s finger has been re-posted on video-sharing Web site YouTube, a day after it was removed at the request of food giant Nestlé.

The viral campaign, which parodies a Kit Kat television commercial, was intended by Greenpeace to highlight how Nestlé buys palm oil — a key ingredient in many of its products — produced from the destroyed rainforest homes of the last orangutans in Indonesia.

The 60-second clip ends with a play on Kit Kat’s famous slogan: “Have a break? Give orangutans a break.”

According to Greenpeace, Nestlé asked YouTube to remove the clip citing copyright concerns. In its place was the message, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Societe des Produits Nestlé S.A.”

A spokesperson for the environmental campaigners told CNN the copyright infringement claim was “a pretext for stopping the word being spread and an apparent attempt to silence us.”

But Nestlé UK, one of several divisions of the company that produces Kit Kats, denied this, saying it had contacted YouTube via their official copyright complaint web form.

“We notified YouTube about the campaign video’s infringement of the visual identity of our Kit Kat brand. The video is now back up and we will not submit the form again,” a Nestlé spokesperson told CNN.

Despite the Nestlé intervention, Greenpeace said it re-posted the clip to video-sharing Web site Vimeo.com and used Twitter to spread the word about the attempted censorship.

It added that many Web users had re-posted the clip to YouTube and other destinations on the Internet themselves, resulting in over 300,000 views so far.

Greenpeace has accused Nestlé of using palm oil from Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer, Sinar Mas, which it says is clearing orangutan habitats and breaking Indonesian law in order to expand production.

In a report entitled “Caught Red-Handed,” Greenpeace said it has evidence Sinar Mas is not only clearing forests but destroying carbon-rich peatlands. It said burning and draining these peatlands releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, helping to make Indonesia the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

Palm oil production devastating Sumatran forests

It also accused both firms of ignoring its commitments as a member of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the body set up to make the palm oil industry more sustainable.

Palm oil is a natural plant oil used in food products such as chocolate, margarine and bread, as well as in cosmetics and the production of biodiesel.

In the last 50 years, an area more than twice the size of Germany has been logged, burned or otherwise degraded, with palm oil plantations being a major cause, according to Greenpeace.

On Wednesday, Nestlé released a statement denying it buys palm oil from Sinar Mar for any of its products, including Kit Kats.

“We do purchase palm oil from Cargill and we have sought assurances from them about their supply chain,” it said.

“Cargill has informed us that Sinar Mas needs to answer Greenpeace’s allegations by the end of April. They have indicated that they will de-list Sinar Mas if they do not take corrective action by then.

“Nestlé recently undertook a detailed review of its supply chain to establish the source of its palm oil supplies and we have made a commitment to using only ‘Certified Sustainable Palm Oil’ by 2015, when sufficient quantities should be available.”

But Greenpeace said Nestlé has yet to demonstrate it will take any action to ensure none of its palm oil comes from destroyed rainforest.

“It really is just empty words,” their spokesperson said. “What they need to do is to state really clear actions which they are taking, part of that is supporting a moratorium on rainforest destruction as well as protecting peatlands.”

“We raised this issue two years ago with Nestlé, giving evidence of what palm oil is doing to the rainforests in Indonesia and they have done nothing. Unilever stopped their contracts with Sinar Mas and so has Kraft.”

Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: “Nestlé will still be using palm oil from Sinar Mas in Kit Kats, because they’ll still be getting it from their other suppliers. The Greenpeace campaign will continue until Nestlé has cut the Sinar Mas group from its supply chain completely.”

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Among the Orangutans With Michelle Yeoh

26/03/2010 – National Geographic Channel will premiere an one-hour documentary starring Dato Michelle Yeoh, titled Among the Great Apes With Michelle Yeoh on Sun, March 28 at 7pm on National Geographic Channel.

It is the channel’s global initiative of broadcasting world-class programming to inspire people to rethink the world we live in and the unique cultures we embrace.

The program will follow Michelle Yeoh on a very personal journey back home to her birthplace of Malaysia and into the world of the orangutan. Orangutans – whose name means “person of the forest” in Malay – are among the planet’s most endangered primates, and they are the only great ape found in Asia.

Once ranging from China to Java, orangutans now survive only on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. They could be extinct in the wild in less than 50 years if nothing is done to protect them and the forest they depend on.

Due to poaching and illegal logging, orangutans have lost their natural habitat and been forced into smaller areas, making it difficult for them to sustain their population and biodiversity in the long term.

Filmed in high definition, the program takes Michelle to the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah on the island of Borneo, where she finds out what’s being done to protect orangutans and meets many people, from local Malaysians to international conservationists, who devote their lives to the battle to save the animals from extinction.

Among the Great Apes With Michelle Yeoh is a powerful and dramatic story, made to the high standards of National Geographic, produced by Novista Productions that will educate audiences on conservation issues that threaten the well-being of the orangutan in Asia.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/entertainment/movie/35096/orang-utan-rescue

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Indonesia Minister Says Nestle Has ?Right? to Cut Off Sinar Mas

By Achmad Sukarsono

Source: Bloomberg Business Week

March 26 — Nestle SA?s decision to stop buying from Indonesian palm-oil producer Sinar Mas Group over deforestation concerns is ?perfectly normal,? the country?s environment minister said, suggesting the government doesn?t plan to protest.

?That?s their right as a consumer,? Gusti M. Hatta said in an interview in Jakarta yesterday, speaking of Nestle?s decision. ?If there?s a clear violation, then I would cut them off without mercy,? he said, adding an investigation into the country?s biggest maker of palm oil is ongoing.

Nestle?s dropping of Sinar Mas sparked calls for the government to speak out on behalf of the palm-oil industry, which produces the country?s biggest agricultural export by sales. The Indonesian Palm Oil Association last week said the Vevey, Switzerland-based company?s decision was ?unfair.?

?We need intervention from the government because the impact could reach other palm oil companies,? Libria Sefita Dewi, a palm oil analyst at PT Mega Capital Indonesia, said in a phone interview. ?The image of Indonesian palm oil producers could become so bad that a defense is necessary.?

Nestle?s action came after a Greenpeace report said Sinar Mas illegally destroyed rainforest areas that are a key habitat for orangutans.

Unilever NA suspended deliveries from Sinar Mas in December and U.S. food provider Cargill Inc. may stop doing business with Sinar Mas if a global trade body validates the Greenpeace report, the company said yesterday on its Web site.

?Responsible Land Clearing?

PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, Sinar Mas?s palm-oil unit, is ?committed to applying responsible land clearing and the best practice of farming management in all of our plantations,? President Director Jo Daud Dharsono said by phone on March 17.

?It?s not fair if major companies such as Nestle and Unilever dropped supplies from Indonesian producers just based on one report,? Fadhil Hasan, executive director at the Indonesian Palm Oil Association told reporters in Jakarta on March 18.

The country?s palm-oil exports may rise to 18 million tons this year from 15.5 million tons in 2009, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association said Jan. 26. Sales reached $10 billion last year, the association said.

Coal Mines

Legislation that takes effect next month will give Indonesia?s Environment Ministry power to revoke business licenses and permits without having to go through police. The ministry will first use the new law to crack down on coal producers in Borneo ?because there are companies that have built mines in forested areas without approval,? Hatta said, without naming them.

?Almost half? of more than 1,500 mines appearing in Indonesian Borneo in the past decade are illegal, he said.

Larger producers such as PT Bumi Resources and PT Adaro Energy ?tend to be good? in managing the environment, Hatta said. Some businesses have ?misinterpreted? the government?s intent to enforce the new law, Hatta said.

?We?ll give time? to the companies to deal with their environmental issues ?although we?ll strictly monitor the progress,? he said.

Rules governing the oil industry will be clarified within a year, he said, and ?tolerance? will be given to mature oil fields.

The energy ministry is seeking a three-year delay on enforcing existing environmental rules. Applying them immediately could lead to a 40 percent drop in oil and gas output, energy ministry official Evita Legowo said Feb. 24.

Southeast Asia?s biggest economy expects to produce 965,000 barrels of oil per day this year, compared with 949,000 barrels a day last year, according to energy-ministry data.

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SHAME ON THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT

These photos were taken three weeks ago at the A’Famosa Safari Park in Malaysia. These poor orangutan– and many others like them– are forced to perform in circus/clown-like shows in front of jeering crowds who laugh at them. Note the thin, anorexic looking orangutan. During these daily shows not one word is said about the conservation of the orangutans.

Our colleagues at Nature Alert have reported to the authorities our mutual concerns for this orangutan’s health. At this same park three years ago Nature Alert was successful in identifying several illegally held orangutans (wild caught in Indonesia) who were eventually repatriated to Indonesia. If you want to make a difference in the lives of these orangutans and many other like them, please make a donation today.

Source: Nature Alert

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Sinar Mas Sinking Fast: Will Seek Review of Greenpeace Accusations

Source: Bloomberg & Jakarta Globe

Indonesian Planter Sinar Mas to Seek Review of Greenpeace Accusations of

March 25, 2010 – Sinar Mas Group, the palm oil producer losing customers amid allegations it has destroyed rain forests, said it plans to appoint independent groups to assess the claims made by Greenpeace.

?We are currently engaging independent external certified bodies to verify the Greenpeace reports,? Fajar Reksoprodjo, corporate communications manager at PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, a unit of Sinar Mas, wrote in an e-mail on Thursday.

Nestle, the world?s biggest food group, and Unilever stopped buying palm oil from Sinar Mas after the Greenpeace report, in decisions described as unfair by the Indonesia Palm Oil Association (Gapki). Cargill has also said it may stop buying from Sinar Mas if the environmental claims are correct and Sinar Mas takes no action. Indonesia is the biggest palm oil supplier.

?We have reiterated our commitment not to develop areas? that have ?high carbon stock and conservation value,? Reksoprodjo wrote in the e-mail, sent in response to questions. Unilever accounted for about 3 percent of sales, while Nestle bought 0.2 percent, the e-mail said.

In a related development, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to meet with officials from 18 of the country?s palm oil companies to seek ways to deal with the latest campaign against the country?s palm oil producers.

Achmad Mangga Barani, the ministry?s director general of plantations, said on Thursday that the government was concerned that the move by Nestle to stop buying Sinar Mas? palm oil could have a systemic impact on the local industry.

?We?ll hold the meeting on Monday,? Achmad said, adding that the participants would include PT Bakrie Plantation, PT London Sumatera Plantations, PT Sampoerna Agro, Sinar Mas, PT Wilmar International and state-owned companies PT Perkebunan Nusantara IV, V and XIII.

?Basically we want to discuss what steps need to be taken next to cope with the continuously negative campaign,? Achmad said.

What happened to Sinar Mas could also hit other companies, he warned.

Palm oil is Indonesia?s most reliable export commodity. It is exported worldwide, especially to China, India and Europe, for basic ingredients of food and cosmetic industries. The total plantation area has grown dramatically, from 1.13 million hectares in the late 1980s to about 7.13 million hectares at present.

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EU report signals U-turn on biofuels target ? Hooray!

Source: Reuters

The European Union appears to be backtracking on its biofuels policy with a new impact assessment showing that more than 5.6 percent of biofuel in road fuels can damage the environment.

EU leaders agreed in 2008 that 10 percent of transport fuels should come from renewable sources by 2020 — mostly biofuels as electric cars and railways would still be in their infancy.

But environmentalists slammed the target, saying the goal would indirectly affect the way land is used around the world, forcing up food prices and encouraging deforestation.

The EU’s most comprehensive biofuels modeling exercise yet was made public on Thursday, but is based on having just 5.6 percent of biofuel in road fuels.

“Indirect land use change effects do indeed offset part of the emission benefits, but are not a threat at the currently estimated volume of 5.6 percent of road transport fuels required,” a European Commission statement said.

Experts say the 10 percent figure was shaved to 5.6 percent partly by exaggerating the contribution of electric cars in 2020.

“The 5.6 percent figure is not based on an honest reflection of reality, or else the Commission is preparing to backtrack on its target,” one EU official said.

The report said that if the amount of biofuels were raised above 5.6 percent, “there is a real risk that indirect land use change could undermine the environmental viability of biofuels.”

(Reporting by Pete Harrison, editing by Dale Hudson)

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Cargill considers switching palm oil supplier

By Anthony Deutsch in Jakarta

Published: March 24 2010
Source: The Financial Times

Cargill, the world?s largest trader of agricultural commodities, has become the third company to reconsider its relationship with a top Indonesian palm oil supplier over allegations it is tearing down protected forests to make way for plantations.

Demand for palm oil has soared in recent years due to its use as a biofuel and in food and household products. Indonesia and Malaysia account for the vast majority of global output.

Cargill said it would stop buying from Sinar Mas if allegations of improper land conversion or illegal planting in deep peatland forests were confirmed. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a certification body, is investigating.

The review was prompted by a Greenpeace report published in December on alleged illegal land-clearing activities by Sinar Mas, which the company has denied. Sinar Mas said it aimed to ?continuously preserve biodiversity? and was confident the contracts would be reinstated after the review.

The report was accompanied by an online campaign that targeted Nestlé?s use of unsustain-able palm oil in its products.

Nestlé said it would switch suppliers, while Unilever, the world?s largest buyer of palm oil, scrapped a $33m contract with Sinar Mas after Greenpeace published the report.

Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International, a London-based trading company, said other companies might follow because it would be beneficial for their images to spend $10 a tonne more to buy environmentally friendly palm oil and not be associated with deforestation.

But, he added: ?I think [Greenpeace?s tactics] are extreme measures, and they only make the Indonesians more defensive.?

The country?s forests are the largest and most biologically diverse after the Amazon basin, and their destruction on Borneo and Sumatra has made Indonesia the third-largest emitter of carbon after the US and China.

Deforestation by palm oil producers is considered the largest threat to endangered wildlife and native plants in Indonesia, but the industry is also a major source of wealth and employment. The country sold 20.8m tonnes of palm oil in 2009, up 7.6 per cent on 2008 and nearly 50 per cent higher than in 2004.

Producers in Malaysia are also feeling the pressure. On Wednesday, Finnish refiner Neste Oil said it would investigate whether IOI , its supplier, had cleared land illegally on Malaysian Borneo following allegations by Friends of the Earth.

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