Sinar Mas

A defining moment for the palm oil industry as Unilever breaks link with forest destruction?

Posted by ianduff — 11 December 2009 at 2:34pm - Comments

As world leaders line up in Copenhagen to agree a new climate treaty, we've also been working hard to secure a result that will have a positive impact on the global climate - by protecting Indonesia's forests.

Today we're publicly releasing new evidence that Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer, has been persistently engaging in widespread illegal deforestation and peatland clearance. We presented presented the evidence in this dossier to one of their biggest customers, the giant Unilever corporation. Now Unilever has decided to stop buying palm oil from Sinar Mas.

Article tagged as: destructive logging, indonesia, palm oil, rspo, sinar mas, successes, unilever

Palm oil tanker gets another visit from Greenpeace

Posted by jamie — 30 December 2008 at 10:27am - Comments

Greenpeace activists paint 'Forest Crime' on the hull of a palm oil tankerRemember the palm oil tanker which the Esperanza prevented from docking in Indonesia last month? That same tanker - the Isola Corallo - arrived in European waters on Christmas Eve en route to Rotterdam, and was met by a group of Greenpeace activists who painted 'Forest Crime' along its hull.

I was on board the Esperanza during that first Indonesian action against the Corallo and it's brilliant to see this tanker - which is carrying 29,000 tonnes of palm oil belonging to Sinar Mas, Indonesia's largest producer - becoming the centre of attention once more here in Europe. It draws a thick line across the globe between the causes of deforestation in Indonesia and demand for products like palm oil on this side of the world.

Read the full story on the Greenpeace South East Asia website and find out more about the Indonesian end of the story in our latest podcast.

Article tagged as: forests, indonesia, netherlands, palm oil, sinar mas

Palm oil companies talk while the rainforests burn

Posted by jamie — 23 December 2008 at 11:23am - Comments

Fire burns through forest in Sumatra, clearing the area for plantations © Greenpeace/Novis

Fire burns through forest in Sumatra, clearing the area for plantations © Greenpeace/Novis

It's been a few weeks since the Esperanza's tour of Indonesia wrapped up with an exhausting but thrilling week of direct action focused on various palm oil tankers, and I've since left those humid equatorial climes to return to a chilly British winter. But even though the ship has moved on to other countries and campaigns, the palm oil campaign continues and in the past few weeks there have been some developments.

The most obvious has been annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Bali - this could have been the moment the industry got its act together and did something other than spin the usual load of greenwash over its involvement in the destruction of south east Asia's rainforests. Sadly, it was not to be. Although our ship painting/blockading actions drew a lot of attention, as did our earlier revelations about United Plantations and their 'sustainable' palm oil, no real progress was made.

Article tagged as: forests, indonesia, palm oil, rspo, sinar mas, south east asia, unilever, wilmar

Indonesian ship-to-ship blockade becomes a tug of war

Posted by jamie — 14 November 2008 at 9:04am - Comments

Hauling on the mooring lines © Greenpeace/Novis

Hauling on the Esperanza's mooring lines © Greenpeace/Novis

After painting and obstructing various palm oil tankers in Dumai earlier this week, we of the Esperanza have been playing a waiting game. There was one tanker due in which the campaigners were particularly interested in - not only was it bound for Europe, but it was picking up a cargo of palm oil from Sinar Mas, the largest palm oil company in Indonesia. As soon as it arrived, a climber was installed on the anchor chain and then there was some more waiting. A lot more waiting. 

Article tagged as: climate change, deforestation, direct actions, forests, indonesia, palm oil, ships, sinar mas

Meeting with the makers of palm oil

Posted by jamie — 5 September 2008 at 3:56pm - Comments

Oil palm saplings

Oil palm saplings waiting to be planted © Behring/Greenpeace

Last week, campaigners from Greenpeace South-East Asia met with palm oil producers and traders to discuss the challenges faced by the industry if it's going to get a grip on the problem of deforestation. The seminar was designed to get these companies thinking about the impact their trade is having on forests in the region, and working groups brought together industry reps and campaigners to discuss the issues involved, particularly our demand for a moratorium on clearing forest areas for palm oil plantations.

Article tagged as: deforestation, forests, GAPKI, indonesia, palm oil, sinar mas, south east asia, unilever
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