NGOs involved in orangutan rescue and protection in Indonesia are increasingly collaborating with palm oil companies to clean up the supply chain, manage the local landscape, and protect wildlife. The issue of […]
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil is ‘greenwashing’ labelled products, environmental investigation agency says
The Environmental Investigation Agency says the RSPO is not upholding its own rules, but its new report has been described as overdramatic and inaccurate. As members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm […]
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil reinstates Nestlé’s membership
This article has been updated. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has readmitted the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé, whose membership it suspended last month over breaches of the […]
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil suspends Nestlé for breaching code of conduct
This article has been updated. The world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé, has been suspended from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for being in breach of the RSPO’s statutes […]
Palm oil company owes millions in fines for burning peat forest, but court blocks verdict
An Indonesian palm oil company that was fined the equivalent of 30 million US$ for illegally burning a vast area of peat swamp forest in Aceh has been granted “legal protection” by […]
Palm oil and animal rights: how you can combat the destruction of wildlife habitat
Palm oil is the most ubiquitous edible oil on the planet. It is found in products ranging from soap, cosmetics, and cleaning products to candles, chocolate, and ice cream, and it is […]
Palm oil: NGOs condemn reinstatement of IOI’s sustainability certification
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s decision to reinstate its certification of the Malaysian company IOI has been fiercely criticised by NGOs and others concerned about environmental protection and human rights. There […]
Palm oil expansion: Greenpeace report reveals devastating impact of IOI environmental violations
A new Greenpeace report says the impact of deforestation and peatland drainage on palm oil concessions owned by the Malaysian company IOI far exceeds that referred to in the complaint to the […]
Palm oil supply chains: community leaders demand action on human rights violations and land grabs
Indigenous and civil society leaders, visiting Europe from across the world, have called for urgent action to stop human rights abuses linked to palm oil supply chains and to bring an end […]
Palm oil roundtable pledges to fix auditing defects
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which has been accused of having critical deficiencies in its monitoring system, said yesterday that it was taking these claims very seriously and was working […]
Indonesia and Singapore take action against companies as forest fires continue to blaze
The Indonesian and Singaporean governments are taking action against companies accused of being responsible for forest fires that are still raging on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, causing fatalities and untold […]
Indonesians choke in crisis-level pollution as forests continue to burn
Large swathes of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo are still blanketed by choking pollution caused by illegal forest burning. The number of haze-related fatalities is difficult to calculate, but deaths are […]
Appeal rejected in landmark case against palm oil company in Indonesia
Indonesia’s Supreme Court in Jakarta has rejected an appeal brought by palm oil company PT Kallista Alam against a judgment that it illegally burned huge swathes of the environmentally precious Tripa peat […]
Illegal fires blaze through Indonesian forests
Forest fires are burning on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and in parts of Indonesian Borneo, causing untold damage to an already fragile environment and wreaking havoc with people’s health. There are […]
Orangutan rescue teams confront danger, cruelty, and illegality
Profile of Panut Hadisiswoyo, who has just won the 2015 Whitley Award for Conservation in Ape Habitats, and the Orangutan Information Centre in Medan, Sumatra. “By saving orangutans, we are saving the […]
Sumatran environmentalist wins Whitley Fund for Nature award
The director of the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) in Sumatra, Panut Hadisiswoyo, has won a prestigious Whitley Fund for Nature award. The Princess Royal presented Hadisiswoyo with the 2015 Whitley Award for […]
Fries, face wash, and forests: new scorecard ranks companies on palm oil commitments
Packaged food manufacturers and some companies producing personal care products are progressing in their efforts to source deforestation-free palm oil, but there are many laggards in other sectors, according to a new […]
New phone app scans products and shows palm oil certification status
The Australian not-for-profit organisation Palm Oil Investigations (POI) has launched a new mobile phone app that shows consumers whether products contain palm oil and, if they do, the scan reveals the oil’s […]
Precious Sumatran peat forest gets landmark protection
Environmentalists in Sumatra are celebrating a major step forward in their battle to save the Tripa peat forest, which is home to one of the highest densities of orangutans in the world, […]
Greenpeace praises palm oil company, but urges action to end social conflict
Greenpeace has launched a new report about the progress the palm oil multinational Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) is making in implementing its Forest Conservation Policy. GAR’s record in Indonesia and Liberia is mixed, Greenpeace […]