The company behind some of the world's biggest brands, including Dove, is driving the destruction of the last remaining habitats of the orang-utan and massively speeding up climate change, according to environmental group Greenpeace.
Simultaneous "direct actions" are taking place across the UK and Europe, and a damning new report has been released highlighting Unilever's use of palm oil supplied by companies that are systematically destroying the rainforests of Indonesia.
In a Unilever factory at Port Sunlight near Liverpool, sixty Greenpeace volunteers (many dressed as orang-utans) are occupying and overrunning production lines. Meanwhile in London, workers at the company's riverside HQ are being greeted by jungle noises, orang-utans above the entrance to the building itself and a giant billboard spoofing Dove's "real beauty" advertising campaign.
The actions coincide with the launch of a new report containing fresh evidence showing where Unilever's suppliers are destroying peatland forests and orang-utan habitats to grow palm oil.
The report, entitled Burning up Borneo, accuses Unilever of contributing to this destruction by continuing to buy from these suppliers, and doing nothing to prevent the massive expansion of the palm oil industry further into Indonesia's peatland forests.
The study explains how growth in the palm oil sector is having a devastating effect on Indonesia's biodiversity. Orang-utan numbers have fallen so drastically that they are now under serious threat of extinction (1). By mapping out areas controlled by key suppliers, the report explains how companies with direct links to Unilever are now clearing the last remaining habitats of the orang-utan. The report contains field research and photographs collected on the ground by Greenpeace over recent months.
The preparation of land for new palm oil plantations also releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide as the forests and peatlands of the region are drained and then burnt. Internationally, Unilever is one of the largest consumers of palm oil and the expansion of the industry threatens to derail international efforts to tackle climate change. Indonesia is now the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, largely as a result of deforestation (2).
Reacting to the news, Greenpeace Executive director John Sauven said: "Unilever, the company behind global brands like Dove, is contributing to one of the greatest environmental crimes happening in the world right now.
"By doing nothing to stop its suppliers destroying rainforests and peatlands to grow palm oil, Unilever is helping to kill off the last remaining orang-utans on the planet and massively speeding up climate change.
"Unless Unilever cleans up its act then the orang-utan could soon become extinct in the wild, and our chances of avoiding climate disaster could disappear with them."
Unilever chairs the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an industry body charged with ensuring the sustainability of palm oil. Despite the fact that the RSPO was established in 2002 there is still no certified palm oil on the market and forest destruction continues apace. Many of the companies accused of rainforest destruction in the Greenpeace report are key members of the RSPO.
Greenpeace is demanding Unilever publicly calls for an end to the expansion of palm oil into forest and peatland areas and stops trading with suppliers that continue to destroy rainforests.
Sauven continued: "Unilever pretends to be a responsible company, but what it's really responsible for is profiting from rainforest destruction. If they invested as much in sorting out their suppliers as they do on greenwashing their brand, they could fix this problem for good."
Images and footage of forest destruction in concessions owned by Unilever suppliers, as well as footage of injured orang-utans on palm oil plantations is available on request.
Notes to editors:
To read the full report visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/reports/burning-up-borneo
Greenpeace has also produced a comprehensive briefing on palm oil, which is available from the press office.
According to the Centre for Orang-Utan protection, at least 1,500 orang-utans died in 2006 as a result of deliberate attacks by palm oil plantation workers. (3)
Since 1900, the number of Sumatran orang-utans is thought to have fallen by about 91%, with a rapidly accelerating loss towards the end of the 20th century.
Since 1990, 28 million hectares of Indonesian rainforest have been destroyed, mostly to clear the way for palm oil plantations. Demand for palm oil is expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2050, when compared to 2000.
FOOTNOTES
(1) The Last Stand of the Orangutan; State of Emergency: Illegal Logging, Fire and Palm Oil in Indonesia's National Parks, UNEP, Feb 2007
(2) World Resources Institute, The Climate Analysis Indicators Tool
(3) AFP (2007) ‘Activists: Palm oil workers killing endangered Orang-Utans
For more information contact Greenpeace UK on 0207 865 8255
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