RELEASE: WWF Confronted for Rainforest "Greenwashing" of "Sustainable" Palm Oil
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet
http://www.ecoearth.info/newsdesk/
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
An Open Letter signed by more than 80 organizations from 31 countries was delivered yesterday to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) [search] and to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) co-initiator of the initiative. In the letter, they are urged to end the “greenwashing” and certification of palm oil plantations as being “sustainable”.
According to the Open Letter, palm oil companies certified by the RSPO are directly responsible for much social and environmental damage: dislocation of local populations’ livelihoods, destruction of rainforests and peat lands, pollution of soils and water, and contribution to global warming. These are the reasons why “palm oil monoculture[s] are not and can never be sustainable and ‘certification’ serves as a means of perpetuating and expanding this destructive industry”.
The letter also points out that the certification delivered by the RSPO is insufficient and highly unreliable: the standards which the RSPO refers to would not exclude social and environmental prejudices and the certification are based solely on self-assessments by the companies involved. The real goal of the RSPO certification is not to protect people or the environment, but “to legitimise an expansion in the demand for palm oil”, and to serve “to ‘greenwash’ the disastrous social and environmental impacts of the palm oil industry”. For example Unilever, the world’s first palm oil consumer company, is doing exactly this: it is using RSPO certification “as a way of portraying itself as a ‘responsible’ company, ignoring the real impacts of palm oil.”
The authors of the Open Letter are also concerned about “the role played by WWF in promoting the RSPO and using it to support endless growth in the demand for palm oil.” The fact that WWF contributed to the foundation of the RSPO and still lobbies for it worldwide is being used by the palm oil industry to legitimise its expansion and to obtain subsidies for example from the EU which decided to keep its 10% agrofuel target by 2020. The consequence of the involvement of the environmental organization WWF is the “speeding up of indiscriminate palm oil expansion in even more countries”.
Therefore, the Open Letter reiterates the call made in an “International Declaration Against the 'Greenwashing' of Palm Oil by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)” last year, and demands the end of promotion and support from the NGOs for the RSPO; a reduction in the demand for palm oil by the North; an end to the subsidies coming from northern governments; the protection of human rights and biodiversity and the reparation of damages.
Links
The open letter can be found below and on the Internet at:
http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/news.php?id=1445
The International Declaration Against the 'Greenwashing' of Palm Oil by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) can be found at:
http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/17-11-2008-ENGLISH-RSPOInternational-Declaration.pdf
More information about palm oil greenwashing: http://www.wrm.org.uy/
Contacts:
English: Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch, Info@biofuelwatch.org.uk, Tel. +44-1224-324797
Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
Spanish: Guadalupe Rodríguez, Salva la Selva, guadalupe@regenwald.org, Tel: +49 (0)30- 51736879
(Also see www.rainforest-rescue.org/news.php?id=1445. For German, Indonesian, Italian and Spanish versions, please email unsustainablepalmoil@gmail.com )
*****
2-11-2009
Open Letter to RSPO and WWF
Palm oil monocultures will never be sustainable
One year ago, the "International Declaration Against the `Greenwashing' of Palm Oil by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil" was published, signed by over 250 organisations worldwide (http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/news.php?id=1070). Since then, the RSPO has continued to certify palm oil produced by companies which are directly responsible for violating the rights of local communities, for the ongoing destruction of rainforests and peatlands and other abuses against people, the environment and climate. Even worse, palm oil suppliers are being granted `interim' RSPO certification based solely on self-assessments.
Destructive oil palm plantations have been certified in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and the same greenwashing exercise has started in Colombia, Thailand and Ghana.
We are deeply concerned that RSPO certification is being used to legitimise an expansion in the demand for palm oil and thus in oil palm plantation, and it serves to greenwash the disastrous social and environmental impacts of the palm oil industry. The RSPO standards do not exclude clear cutting of many natural forests, the destruction of other important ecosystems, nor plantings on peat. The RSPO certifies plantations which impact on the livelihoods of local communities and their environments. The problems are exacerbated by the in-built conflict of interest in the system under which a company wanting to be certified commissions another company to carry our the assessment.
We also concerned about the role played by WWF in promoting the RSPO and using it to support endless growth in the demand for palm oil. WWF initiated the founding of the RSPO, continues to lobby worldwide for it, and combines this with their support for the agrofuel industry, including palm oil.
WWF's involvement is being used by agrofuel companies to justify building more refineries and more palm oil power stations in Europe. The promise of `sustainable palm oil', backed by WWF, was one important factor behind the EU's decision to go ahead with a 10% agrofuel target by 2020, and the RSPO will be used to allow palm oil to become eligible for EU agrofuel subsidies and other support. This is speeding up indiscriminate palm oil expansion in even more countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, Cameroon, DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Tanzania.
Unilever, with 1.6 million tonnes per year the biggest palm oil consumer in the world, uses a `commitment' to use RSPO palm oil in future as a way of portraying itself as a `responsible' company, ignoring the real impacts of palm oil. Wilmar International has applied for RSPO certificates in Indonesia, even though evidence of their involvement in illegal land-grabbing, fire-raising and rainforest and peatland destruction has led to the World Bank having suspended funding for palm oil. That hard-won suspension is now at risk of being lost because of false promises by the RSPO.
In Colombia, palm oil company Daabon, an RSPO member, succeeded in being portrayed in European media as a `responsible' company, despite the fact that they had illegally evicted small farmers from their land, felled trees and contaminated the Caribbean Sea with palm oil spills. In South-east Asia, IOI has had plantations certified, despite being responsible for the illegal destruction of peatlands and rainforests in Kalimantan, destroying the livelihood of indigenous peoples. Their customer Neste Oil has gained an interim RSPO certificate on this basis and is using this to promote biofuels for aviation, while building the world's biggest palm oil biofuel refinery.
Palm oil monocultures for food production, cosmetic and chemical industries and agrofuels are a major cause of deforestation and climate change, they destroy the livelihoods of millions of small farmers, indigenous peoples and other communities. They require agro-chemicals which poison workers and communities, soil, water and wildlife, they deplete freshwater and soils. Palm oil monocultures are not and can never be sustainable and `certification' serves as a means of perpetuating and expanding this destructive industry.
We therefore reiterate the call made in the International Declaration last year and demand
+ An end to all agrofuel targets, subsidies and incentives, particularly in Europe and the US;
+ Major reductions in the demand for vegetable oil and energy in the North;
+ The cancellation of trade relations between companies purchasing palm oil and suppliers destroying forests and peatlands as they are responsible for or benefit from violating Human Rights;
+ Land reform to devolve land to local communities, guarantee food sovereignty and restore biodiverse agriculture and ecosystems;
+ Resolution of land conflicts, protection of human rights, reparation for damages;
+ Restoring all remaining peatlands which have been drained for oil palms as far as this is still possible in order to mitigate global warming.
NGOs should not lend legitimacy to the RSPO and WWF must stop promoting the RSPO palm oil supporting agrofuels;
Governments in Europe and the US must reduce the demand for palm oil by stopping the policies which have created the artificial agrofuel market and ending agrofuel use.
NOTES:
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a private organisation or `stakeholder forum', which has created an `independent' label for certification of `sustainable' palm oil. Among the members of the RSPO are 80 palm oil plantation companies and federations, 8 banks and finance companies, 51 consumer good manufacturers, 23 retailers, 118 processors and traders and 21 NGOs.
Signatures:
Acción Ecológica – Ecuador
Action Populaire Contre la Mondialisation, Geneva, Switzerland
Afosci, Paraguay
Afrika-Europa Netwerk, Netherlands
Agencia de los Pueblos En Pie, Ecuador
Alert aginst the Green Desert Network, Brazil
Alotau Environment Ltd, Papua New Guinea
Amigos de la Tierra Buenos Aires, Argentina
A SEED Europe, Netherlands
Asociacion de Solidaridad con Colombia "ASOC-KATÍO", Spain
ASOCONSUMO, Colombia
Asolatino Berna, Swiss
Attac, Spain
Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe, Germany
BI "Kein Strom aus Palmöl !" - Germany
Biofuelwatch, UK
Bismarck Ramu Group - Madang, Papua New Guinea
Centre for Orangutan Protection, Indonesia
CETRI - Centro tricontinental, Belgica
Centro de Acogida para imigrantes y de Promocion Cultural "E. Balducci", Italia
Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos "Segundo Montes Mozo S. J." (CSMM), Equador
CENTRO DE MUJERES " AMELIA BRUHN", CHILE
Centro Ecologista Renacer, Argentina
Climat et Justice Sociale, Genève
CODDEFFAGOLF, Honduras
COECOCEIBA-AT Costa Rica
Colectivo de Colombianos Refugiados en Asturias, Spain
Colectivo Rosa Luxemburgo, Chiapas, México
Colectivo Sur Cacarica, Spain
Comité Cerezo, México
Comité Oscar Romero de Madrid, Spain
Comité Oscar Romero de Vigo, Spain
Comunidad cristiana Mártires de Uganda, Spain
Cooperativa de Artesanas Jolom Mayaetik, Chiapas, México
Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas (CNOC), Guatemala
Corporate Europe Observatory, Bruselas, Bélgica
Cristianos de Base, España
DWK Panama e.V. , Germany
Ecological Internet, U.S. and Papua New Guinea
Ecological Society of the Philippines
Ecologistas en Acción, Spain
Ecoportal.Net, Argentina
Envirocare, Tanzania
FASE /Espirito Santo, Brazil
FASE Bahia, Brazil
Federación de Comités de Solidaridad con África Negra, Spain
FEDICAMP – Esteli, Nicaragua
FOBOMADE Bolivia
Forschungs- und Dokumentationszentrum Chile-Lateinamerika e.V. FDCL, Germany
Freunde der Naturvölker e.V./FdN (fPcN), Germany
Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine, Germany
Grupo de Trabajo Suiza Colombia, Basilea/Berna
Guildford and Waverley Friends of the Earth Group, England
Kinal Antsetik, A. C., Chiapas, México
KoBra, Germany
Labour, Health and Human Rights DEvelopment Centre, Nigeria
Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations RECOMA
"La pluma", Equipo de "Los Pueblos en Pie, grupo Francia
Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste, Chiapas, Mexico
Mandacaru, Germany
Mangrove Action Project MAP, USA
Munlochy Vigil, Scotland
Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas CNOC, Guatemala
Network for ecofarming in Africa NECOFA, Kenya
Network of Alternatives against Impunity and Market Globalisation, International
North East Peoples Allinace, North East India
Observatorio Latinoamericano de Conflictos Ambientales, Chile
Osservatorio Informativo sulla Americhe, Italy
Otros Mundos, Mexico
Pacific Indigenous Peoples Environment Coalition PIPEC, New Zeland
Plataforma de Solidaridad con Chiapas de Madrid, Spain
Programa de Defensa de Derechos Indígenas – Perú
Programa Universitario México Nación Multicultural PUMC-UNAM of Oaxaca, México
REDES – FOE, Uruguay
Regenwald-Institut e.V., Germany
Robin Wood, Germany
Salva la Selva/Rettet den Regenwald, Germany
Save Our Borneo, Indonesia
SAVIA, Guatemala
Secretariado de Centroamerica, Zentral America Secretariat, Switzerland
Servicios Jurídicos y Sociales SERJUS, Guatemala
Sobrevivencia, Amigos de la Tierra Paraguay
Sociedad Colombiana de Automovilistas, Colombia
Socio-Ecológica LaFuerza, Guatemala
South Durban Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), Southafrica
SPI (Indonesian Peasant Union), Indonesia
Toxicsoy.org, Netherlands
UmweltHaus am Schüberg, Germany
Union paysanne du Québec, Canadá
Vegetarierbund Deutschland VEBU, Germany
Watch Indonesia!, Germany
World Rainforest Movement, Uruguay
XXI Solidario, Spain
Youth, governance and evironmental programme Y-GEP, Kenya
Private persons:
François Houtart, Prof. emeritus of the Catholic University of Louvain, UNESCO prize 2009, Belgium
Elvira Lussana, Prof. Faculty of Economics University of Perugia-Italy
Monique Munting, Belgium
Pedro Tostado Sánchez, Cristianos de Base, España
Comments
I'm amazed that Friends of the Earth [UK and International] do not appear on the list?
Posted by: Phil Butler | November 6, 2009 2:39 AM
Thanks, Glen and others. I hope some of the big groups with deep pockets like Sierra Club and Audubon will sign up. At least get California and other progressive states to boycott palm oil or tax it.
Posted by: Dave Moore | November 6, 2009 1:04 PM
Phil asks about Friends of the Earth. Actually, FoE International issued a separate press release about the RSPO which concludes by saying: "Friends of the Earth International therefore does not regard the RSPO as a credible certification process as it is only a limited tool of technicality which is not able to adequately address the horrendous impacts of oil palm cultivation on forests, land and communities." (www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2009/certified-palm-oil-not-a-solution)
I understand FoE ENWI focussed on palm oil certification in relation to biofuels in a separate press statement which was also highly critical of the RSPO.
Posted by: Almuth | November 8, 2009 4:42 AM
Please, give President Barack Obama a reason for going to Copenhagen next month so that he has a chance to make the difference that makes a difference. Action is needed now. Support the objectives of the Copenhagen Climate Conference before it is too late for even these great, leading-edge human beings with feet of clay to guide the children away from the patently unsustainable lifestyles of the self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe among us and toward sustainable ways of living in the planetary home God has blessed us to inhabit as stewards, I suppose.
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | November 11, 2009 11:36 AM
We hear the Copenhagen Climate Conference will be a failure. No binding international agreement will be made. The last best hope for humanity to sensibly address climate destabilization has been turned into a steppingstone to nowhere.
A colossal tragedy is in the making. Father Profit wins again and again. Mother Nature loses.
Now for some good news: "THE(only)GAME(in town)" is in the bottom half of the ninth inning and, therefore, not yet over for Mother Nature.
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | November 15, 2009 8:29 AM
WWF is totally against the environment and wildlife preservation. I live in Bali and my work to stop the slaughtering of green turtles was sabotaged mainly by WWF members here. My life and others were endangered by their nonsense. We had success anyway, thank to Discovery Channel UK.
Posted by: Joan | November 18, 2009 9:03 PM
Palm oil has recently become an important feedstock for biodiesel production, and many people decide producing palm oil driven by high profits. The situation is particularly worrying in Indonesia. Here's more info http://deforestationarticles.blogspot.com/2009/06/indonesian-rainforest-worths-more-than.html
Posted by: Ned | November 20, 2009 7:51 AM
If ever there was moment when meaningful communication and bold action needed to occur, that time is in Copenhagen. In less than two weeks time the pivotal Climate Change Conference will begin. Four weeks from now, what could be the most important international meeting of Century XXI will become a part of history. Now is the time for open communication and real action.
Please recall a story from the Bible regarding a gigantic tower built at the city of Babylon. Do you ever imagine that too much of our communication in the "now/here" could be similar to the foolhardy and confusing prattle supposedly heard in ancient times within the Tower of Babel? This skyscraping tower was apparently made of stone; whereas, a similar colossal construction in our time has been built from too many worthless greenbacks as a "house of cards" called the global political economy.
At least to me, it appears that some kind of terrible and unimaginable ecololgical wreckage could occur much sooner rather than later. The self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe among us are to going to keep getting more arrogant, more foolhardy, more greedy and richer. When a youngster, I was told to become a millionaire. That was the goal. Now I see children today being encouraged to be billionaires. That is the new sign of 'success'. Given the budget deficits we are running now, even as greedmongering leaders of one not-so-great generation mortgage the childrens' future and threaten their very existence, it cannot take long before the first trillionaire is minted. The mainstream media will report this news proudly, profanely. The Fortune 400 will be comprised of trillionaires soon thereafter. With the patently unsustainable levels of overproduction and overconsumption required to underwrite the conspiciously obscene per-capita lifestyles of a tiny minority of those in the human family who are perniciously concentrating a lion's share of world's wealth and power, it is no longer difficult to apprehend in the offing some sort of wholesale destruction of life as we know it on this Good Earth........willful blindness, hysterical deafness, elective mutism, global gag rules and stony silence notwithstanding.
Still, hopefully, meaningful communications and necessary changes toward sustainability remain a discernible possibility for those human beings with feet of clay.
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | November 24, 2009 2:12 PM
"They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent… Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have entered upon a period of danger. The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…. We cannot avoid this period, we are in it now…”
- Winston Churchill, November 12, 1936
Posted by: Steve Salmony | December 5, 2009 9:18 AM
Remember: environment and people are closely linked. Only community-based conservation is long-term and sustainable. No to outside logging and palm oil interests and yes to local sustainable development by agroforestry practice, by ecotourism, by diversified produce marketing and community based biodiversity conservation. People relate to the land, water and soil. Ecosystem services are prime and need to be off-set with REDD/carbon credit funding on top of aid budgets to conserve biodiversity, protect integrated rainforest ecosystems and communities living in them and support for local biodiversity research capacity and Protected Area management. This should be part of the Climate Deal of COP15 in Kobenhavn, Denmark. So, all 192 countries ... for once take a lead and bring us all out of the mire.
Posted by: Jelle Boef | December 7, 2009 1:13 AM
I don't know what to think when I read comments like "WWF is totally against the environment and wildlife preservation."
How can an organization that's been in the forefront of saving animals for decades be so bad?
Obviously not every organization is going to be perfect and make all the right decisions but that statement is pretty ruff.
Posted by: savethevampire | December 16, 2009 11:36 AM