Greenpeace Blog

Plantations, like this eucalyptus one in Sumatra, are gradually replacing Indonesia's rainforests (c) Beltra/Greenpeace

Laura Kenyon from our Making Waves blog explains how money intended to protect forests could actually encourage deforestation.

Norway and Indonesia are about to make history. A US$1bn forest protection deal between these two countries could help set Indonesia on a low-carbon development pathway and become a positive model for the rest of the world. It could clearly demonstrate that lowering carbon emissions to address climate change does not mean sacrificing economic growth and prosperity. What's more, this prosperous low-carbon development does not need to come at the expense of Indonesia's natural forests and peatlands.

But this deal is at risk. Today we released a report - Protection Money - which outlines how the deal is in danger of being undermined, unless action is taken to protect it from notorious industrial forest destroyers in the palm oil, paper and pulp sectors.  There is a potential that international money intended for the protection of Indonesia's forests and peatlands could end up being used to support their destruction.

Helen Buckland, UK director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, reports on developments at the recent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil meeting...

It's no secret that the palm oil industry is responsible for massive deforestation in Indonesia, but it's now gone some way towards acknowledging the value of rainforests and how vital they are for conserving endangered species, including orangutans.

With so little habitat remaining in Sumatra and Borneo, it is vital to preserve even degraded forests to ensure the survival of orangutans in the wild.

We've taken the government to the High Court in a bid to stop offshore drilling in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Our lawyers filed a claim at the Royal Courts of Justice this morning seeking to stop the issuing of new licences for deep sea drilling until the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion have been properly established.

Why are car companies hiding their progress? Photo: drinksmachine

It's not often you see car companies trying to hide their green achievements. We're more used to seeing them worn boastfully on the outside. The way Superman wears his underpants.

So why would they hide them now?

The Corporate Social Responsibility guys must be choking on their almond croissants. Today's news is something they want to shout about: fast, tangible progress on vehicle efficiency technology that reduces emissions. Greener cars, greener company. This time they don't have to make it up. But they're being hushed up by the lobbyists in the boardroom, who know that talking about these gains is going to counter their main argument with politicians: that their companies can't comply with proposed CO2 targets in time.