Jakarta, 28 April 2017 - The IOI Group, one
of the world’s largest palm oil traders, today made a
significant commitment to address deforestation and
exploitation throughout its supply chain. [1] Greenpeace
has suspended its active campaign to give IOI time to
show it is serious about reform.
Today’s
announcement comes one year after the Malaysian company
was suspended from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm
Oil (RSPO) for clearing peatlands in Kalimantan,
Indonesia. [2] Dozens of companies including Unilever,
Mars and Nestlé cancelled contracts with IOI as a
result. [3]
If properly implemented, IOI’s
commitments would be a significant step towards
eliminating deforestation and exploitation in the palm
oil industry. IOI has agreed to independent third-party
verification of its progress in one year’s time.
Kiki Taufik, Global Head of Greenpeace's
Indonesian Forests Campaign, said:
“IOI has come
a long way in the past twelve months, and has now
started taking meaningful action to eliminate forest
destruction and human rights abuses from its supply
chain. Greenpeace will be watching closely to make sure
IOI follows through. There is still a lot of work to be
done to clean up the palm oil industry and we expect
other traders to respond with action plans of their
own.”
Since January, IOI has begun proactively
monitoring its palm oil suppliers to ensure they are not
destroying rainforests or peatlands. It has agreed to
work with NGOs to find a solution to the social conflict
between the communities of Long Teran Kanan and the
IOI-Pelita joint venture in Sarawak, Malaysia. [4] IOI
also committed to change its practices to respect the
rights of plantation workers and has commissioned a
consultant to verify its progress on labour issues.
Greenpeace advises companies intending to resume
trade with IOI to specify in their contracts that the
company must demonstrate ongoing progress in line with
its Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and the additional
commitments it has made today.
Palm oil is the
most widely-used vegetable oil in the world, but the
industry has a well-deserved reputation for rainforest
destruction and human rights abuses. [5] The major palm
oil traders have ‘no deforestation’ policies, but have
done little to ensure their suppliers meet these
standards. [6] As a result, many household brands are
still supplied by palm oil growers that destroy
rainforests or exploit workers and local communities.
[7]
“Consumers have had enough of the palm oil
industry failing to deliver. Companies cannot keep
ignoring forest destruction and human rights abuses. The
only way to clean up the industry is for other palm oil
traders to follow IOI’s lead and start cutting off
suppliers that destroy rainforests or abuse workers.”
said Taufik.
Over the past ten years, dozens of
civil society organisations have been pushing IOI to
reform. [8] A complaint from NGO AidEnvironment led to
the company being suspended from the RSPO in April 2016.
Hundreds of thousands of Greenpeace supporters took part
in the campaign, which included a blockade of IOI’s palm
oil refinery in Rotterdam and a protest at its
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [9]
Greenpeace is calling on other palm oil traders,
such as Wilmar International and Golden Agri Resources,
to publish similar plans to identify suppliers that are
clearing forests, draining peatlands or exploiting
workers and exclude those that won’t reform.
Companies that buy palm oil should require their
suppliers to demonstrate how they will ensure
deforestation and other unacceptable practices are
eliminated from their supply chain.
Notes to
Editors
Images available here
1. IOI’s statement is
available here 2. In March 2015, NGO
AidEnvironment submitted a formal complaint to the
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) regarding the
destruction of High Conservation Value forests and
peatlands in IOI’s plantations in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The RSPO suspended IOI in April 2016, although it lifted
the suspension in August 2016. AidEnvironment and IOI
published a joint statement in December 2016 declaring
the case resolved. 3. See, for instance, here. 4. http://www.rspo.org/members/complaints/status-of-complaints/view/4
5. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Forests-Reports/Under-Fire/
6. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/Campaign-reports/Forests-Reports/A-Deadly-Trade-off/ 7.
In November 2016, an investigation by Amnesty
International found human rights abuses, including
child labour, in plantations controlled by Wilmar
International, the world’s largest palm oil trader.
8. For example, 26 Indonesian and international NGOs
signed an open letter about IOI in May 2016.
9. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/2016/Greenpeace-blockades-palm-oil-trader-IOI-in-Rotterdam-/
Media
Contacts:
Kiki Taufik, Global Head of Indonesian
Forest Campaign, ph:+628118706074
Annisa
Rahmawati, Senior Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace
Southeast Asia, ph:+628111097527
Sol Gosetti,
International Communication for Indonesian Forest
Campaign, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, ph +447807352020
Greenpeace International Press Desk,
pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, phone: +31 (0) 20 718 2470
(available 24 hours)
|