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U.S. Food Companies Accused of 'Cooking the Climate'
Haider Rizvi
OneWorld US
Sun., Nov. 11, 2007
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/155084/1/
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (OneWorld) - Major U.S. companies are adding to the
impending threat of global warming as they drive the production of
palm oil in Indonesia's tropical forests, says a new study by an
international environmental organization.
According to the study released by Greenpeace International this week,
Indonesia is losing its peat forests at a rapid pace due to massive
operations by U.S.-based commercial concerns engaged in palm oil
extraction.
Palm oil is widely used in food and cosmetic products, and, therefore,
its demand is constantly on the rise, said Greenpeace researchers who
conducted the study.
Indonesia's tropical forests are considered by the scientific
community to be some of the world's great "carbon sinks," and hence a
solid defense in the fight against global warming.
The report, entitled "Cooking the Climate," comes at a time when world
leaders are preparing to gather in the Indonesian city of Bali next
month to decide next steps to combat climate change after the Kyoto
agreement expires in 2012.
The Greenpeace report shows how companies are driving peatland
destruction in the Indonesian province of Riau on the island of
Sumatra, currently home to 25 percent of the country's palm oil
plantations.
There are plans to expand the area under concession by more than
11,000 square miles, which would deforest and cover half the province
with plantations, said the report's authors.
In a statement, they expressed fears of "devastating consequences" for
Riau's peatlands, noting that these lands have already been seriously
degraded by industrial development and store a massive 14.6 billion
tons of carbon -- roughly one year's global greenhouse gas emissions.
Research conducted by Greenpeace from its Forest Defenders Camp in
Riau also documents how a major Indonesian palm oil producer is
engaging in "the large-scale, illegal destruction of peatland in
flagrant violation" of an Indonesian presidential order and national
forestry regulations.
Palm oil is fed into the supply chain for global brands such as
Pringles potato chips and KitKat candy. Major multinational companies
are all named in the report for turning a blind eye to peatland
destruction in their quest for cheap vegetable oil.
Among others, they include Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM),
Burger King, Cargill, Dove Soap, Kraft, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and
Unilever. According to Greenpeace, they are driving the demand for
palm oil used in products such as Oreo cookies and Philadelphia Cream
Cheese.
Currently, the destruction of Indonesian peatlands accounts for about
4 percent of annual global carbon emissions, Greenpeace said.
"This investigation shows that a handful of international corporations
are ultimately responsible for slashing and burning Indonesia's
peatland forests for food, fuel, and laundry detergent," said Emmy
Hafild, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
In Hafild's words, "some of the best known brands in the world are
literally cooking the climate."
The report's authors also expressed concern about the consequences of
palm oil's use as a "biofuel," and said that replacing forests and
peatlands with palm oil plantations would release more carbon dioxide
than is saved by burning biofuels in place of diesel fuel.
Scientists say forest destruction is responsible for about one fifth
of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"At next month's UN climate conference in Bali, political leaders must
wake up to the fact that we need to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions -- and make them fast," said Rolf Skar, a Greenpeace forests
campaigner.
"Protecting peatlands and other forest areas from destruction is one
of the most simple, cost-effective insurance options against global
warming."
--
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to
escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
"...the whole world, including the United States, including all that
we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark
Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights
of perverted science." -- Sir Winston Churchill
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
Haider Rizvi
OneWorld US
Sun., Nov. 11, 2007
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/155084/1/
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (OneWorld) - Major U.S. companies are adding to the
impending threat of global warming as they drive the production of
palm oil in Indonesia's tropical forests, says a new study by an
international environmental organization.
According to the study released by Greenpeace International this week,
Indonesia is losing its peat forests at a rapid pace due to massive
operations by U.S.-based commercial concerns engaged in palm oil
extraction.
Palm oil is widely used in food and cosmetic products, and, therefore,
its demand is constantly on the rise, said Greenpeace researchers who
conducted the study.
Indonesia's tropical forests are considered by the scientific
community to be some of the world's great "carbon sinks," and hence a
solid defense in the fight against global warming.
The report, entitled "Cooking the Climate," comes at a time when world
leaders are preparing to gather in the Indonesian city of Bali next
month to decide next steps to combat climate change after the Kyoto
agreement expires in 2012.
The Greenpeace report shows how companies are driving peatland
destruction in the Indonesian province of Riau on the island of
Sumatra, currently home to 25 percent of the country's palm oil
plantations.
There are plans to expand the area under concession by more than
11,000 square miles, which would deforest and cover half the province
with plantations, said the report's authors.
In a statement, they expressed fears of "devastating consequences" for
Riau's peatlands, noting that these lands have already been seriously
degraded by industrial development and store a massive 14.6 billion
tons of carbon -- roughly one year's global greenhouse gas emissions.
Research conducted by Greenpeace from its Forest Defenders Camp in
Riau also documents how a major Indonesian palm oil producer is
engaging in "the large-scale, illegal destruction of peatland in
flagrant violation" of an Indonesian presidential order and national
forestry regulations.
Palm oil is fed into the supply chain for global brands such as
Pringles potato chips and KitKat candy. Major multinational companies
are all named in the report for turning a blind eye to peatland
destruction in their quest for cheap vegetable oil.
Among others, they include Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM),
Burger King, Cargill, Dove Soap, Kraft, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and
Unilever. According to Greenpeace, they are driving the demand for
palm oil used in products such as Oreo cookies and Philadelphia Cream
Cheese.
Currently, the destruction of Indonesian peatlands accounts for about
4 percent of annual global carbon emissions, Greenpeace said.
"This investigation shows that a handful of international corporations
are ultimately responsible for slashing and burning Indonesia's
peatland forests for food, fuel, and laundry detergent," said Emmy
Hafild, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
In Hafild's words, "some of the best known brands in the world are
literally cooking the climate."
The report's authors also expressed concern about the consequences of
palm oil's use as a "biofuel," and said that replacing forests and
peatlands with palm oil plantations would release more carbon dioxide
than is saved by burning biofuels in place of diesel fuel.
Scientists say forest destruction is responsible for about one fifth
of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"At next month's UN climate conference in Bali, political leaders must
wake up to the fact that we need to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas
emissions -- and make them fast," said Rolf Skar, a Greenpeace forests
campaigner.
"Protecting peatlands and other forest areas from destruction is one
of the most simple, cost-effective insurance options against global
warming."
--
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to
escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
"...the whole world, including the United States, including all that
we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark
Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights
of perverted science." -- Sir Winston Churchill
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
