Posted by jamie — 5 November 2008 at 4:09pm
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It's been a little while since I've updated here about the Esperanza's Forests for Climate tour of Indonesia, but continue it most certainly does. For our exploits crossing from one end of the country to the other and our stop in Jakarta, catch up on the Forests for Climate blog.
But we've arrived in Sungai Pakning, a small port on the coast of Riau in Sumatra, and the Esperanza is anchored in a wide, silty channel running between the mainland and two islands, Pulau Bengkalis and Pulau Padang. The soupy water flowing gently past the ship will be down to the Siak river, the mouth of which is just a few miles south.
As I write this, I'm sat in a hotel lobby
looking out on to a market place where women are sat on the hard tarmac,
blankets with tomatoes, lemongrass, onions and chillies spread out before them.
Towering behind them is the incongruous bulk of the local KFC and, although
there was torrential rain an hour ago, the streets are bone dry. That's because
it's very very hot which is not surprising when you're a few degrees south of
the equator.
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.
Regular visitors to our
website might have noticed that a few days ago, we launched a cyber action
against the Italian company Ferrero, a major user of palm oil and maker
of Nutella and Ferrero Rocher.
Well, we’re delighted to
report that, before we even had the chance to email our supporters about
it, we’ve had another success in the protection of Indonesia’s rainforests and
peatlands - and of the threatened species that live there and, of course, the climate.
Posted by jamie — 4 July 2008 at 12:11pm
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We're still working to build a coalition of
companies which are determined to reform the palm oil industry so no more
forest is lost due to the expansion of their plantations in South East Asia and
with Unilever's help we're in contact with other major players in the palm oil
trade. However, some are less keen than others to co-operate and need some
persuading.
Since the rapid turn-around of Unilever in the
wake of our Dove campaign, our campaigners have met several times with their
executives. They've been discussing how to build a coalition of allies throughout
the palm oil industry which will support a moratorium on further deforestation
in Indonesia
to grow new plantations. As Tracy
mentioned last week, even though things might go a bit quiet on this campaign
for while, that doesn't mean we're not working away behind the scenes.
This report highlights the urgent need for
global palm oil consumers and investors to support Unilever's call for
an immediate moratorium on deforestation and peatland clearance in
Indonesia.
This report focuses on Unilever,
which shares major institutional investors with other leading
corporations including Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Kraft. Not only
do these corporations share investors, they also share growing carbon
liability within their raw material supply chains through the expansion
in the palm oil sector in Indonesia.
