Certifying destruction
Greenpeace International, September 2013
Greenpeace’s most recent report “Certifying Destruction” paints a disturbing picture of ongoing deforestation in Indonesia.
Key points:
* Between 2009 and 2011, the equivalent of 620,000 hectares per year of Indonesian forest was lost. This equates to 200 football fields being bulldozed every daylight hour.
* Based on areas Greenpeace could identify, the palm oil sector was the single largest driver of deforestation between 2009-2011 with identified concessions accounting for about a quarter of forest loss. This percentage was considerably higher in palm oil growth provinces.
* Some Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) members were responsible for a disproportionate percentage of deforestation.
* Greenpeace is critical at the lack of action by the RSPO against apparent blatant breaches of its standards by its members and the lack of supply chain traceability which weakens the certified palm oil movement. “RSPO standards are inadequate, poorly enforced and offer palm oil consumers no guarantee that the oil they buy has been produced responsibly.”
* Greenpeace concludes that consumer companies need to go beyond the RSPO standards if they want to break the link between palm oil and deforestation. The RSPO also needs to tighten its principles including ensuring no clearance of high carbon stock forest or peatlands.
