Archived press release

Rainforest Destruction in Your Shopping Basket

8 March 2004

One in three food products on our supermarket shelves are directly contributing to the destruction of the world's rainforests, a new report by Friends of the Earth reveals today [1].The research shows that the booming trade in palm oil, used in everyday products such as chocolate, crisps, margarine, shampoo and detergents is fuelling the destruction of rainforests in South East Asia, and leading to human rights abuses and devastating pollution.

The environmental group is calling on the UK Government to force UK companies to address this issue, and introduce legislation to make them accountable for the damage they cause.

Large scale palm oil plantations are replacing the forests in Indonesia and Malaysia at an alarming rate, wiping out 80-100% of wildlife in the area, forcing local communities from their land and destroying their livelihoods. In Indonesia, the forests are disappearing at a rate of more than 2 million hectares a year - an area greater than the size of Wales.

Palm oil is one of the world's most consumed oils [2], and used in a number of top brand foods, including Walkers' crisps, Kellogg's cereals, Heinz soups and some Cadbury Schweppes' chocolate. UK companies are involved in the trade as investors, retailers and in processing palm oil.

Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper said:

"The global trade in palm oil is destroying some of the world's most precious wildlife, but the UK Government and the companies involved seem to be turning a blind eye. It is time this greasy supply chain was brought under control and the companies were forced to take responsibility for the damage they cause."

The demand for profit from this rapidly expanding trade is leading to human rights violations against indigenous communities, who are losing their land and being forced to work on the plantations, often for less than the minimum wage.

Palm oil exports from Indonesia alone have increased by 244 per cent in the past seven years, with toxic waste product from the process polluting rivers and poisoning workers. Nearly a quarter of Indonesia's output goes to the European Union.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the companies involved in palm oil production to take immediate steps to ensure they only use sustainably produced palm oil. They should ensure they are not involved in any forests being converted to create new palm oil plantations or using fire for clearing the land.

Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper said:

"Consumers will be horrified to know that their weekly shop is destroying the rainforest, but it is all but impossible to avoid buying palm oil. Tigers, orang-utans and countless other species are being driven to extinction while governments stand idly by and allow companies to get away with it. This problem will not be solved until there are clear rules to ensure the products found in our shops are produced in a way that does not harm communities and the environment.

Friends of the Earth believes that changes must be made to UK company law to prevent British companies operating in ways that damage the environment overseas through the market for palm oil. It is calling on the UK Government to:

• Introduce new legal obligations on companies to report annually on the impact of their operations, policies, products and procurement practices on people and the environment in the UK and abroad.

• Introduce legal duties on directors to take reasonable steps to reduce any significant negative social or environmental impacts.

• Introduce foreign direct liability to enable affected communities abroad to seek redress in the UK for human rights and environmental abuses resulting from the actions of British companies/

Notes

[1] Greasy palms - palm oil, the environment and big business is published by Friends of the Earth on Monday 8^th March 2004. A media pack and embargoed copies of the report are available electronically from the press office at Friends of the Earth. It will be available online from 8^th March at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/palm_oil_summary.pdf (PDF format)

[2] Palm oil accounts for 21 per cent of the global edible oil market, with soy oil the most commonly used edible oil.

• Greasy palms: European buyers of Indonesian palm oil (PDF format)
• Greasy Palms - The social and ecological impacts of large-scale oil palm plantation development (PDF format)

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If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust