Greenpeace, Nestlé and the Palm Oil Controversy: Social Media Driving Change? (Abridged)

<< Previous

Palm oil is Indonesia's most significant agricultural export – it was reported that in 2008, Indonesia exported nearly US$14.5 billion of palm oil related products. The principal area for palm oil production is Sumatra, which has nearly 80% of the total palm oil production.

However, the cultivation of palm oil has had several devastating consequences for the environment. Experts noted that from less than 2,000 square kilometers in 1967, the area under palm oil cultivation had expanded to more than 30,000 square kilometers by 2000. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) held that the spread of palm oil plantations was the greatest threat to the forests of Indonesia and Malaysia. According to Greenpeace, "Demand for palm oil has been increasing so much that the companies that sell it are levelling rainforests in Indonesia to make way for palm oil plantations. We need those rainforests... Indonesia (is) the third largest carbon emitter after the United States and China... Deforestation is actually responsible for...1/5 of total emissions...Deforestation is also trashing orang-utan habitat, pushing this already endangered species to the brink of extinction, and destroying the livelihoods of local people." According to the UNEP, oil palm production would wipe out 98% of Indonesia's remaining forests by 2022. The palm oil industry was also charged with land grabbing, since expansions were occurring in areas where communities had traditionally used forests but lacked the title to land.

Orangutans, a keystone^v species, played an important part in forest regeneration. Moreover, the Sumatran orangutan had been classified as “Critically Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)^vi...

Excerpts >

iv] The food-based uses of palm oil include use as cooking oil, as fats, shortening, margarine, spreads, confectionery fat, coffee creamer, and imitation dairy products. Its non food uses include in soaps, Fatty Acids, Methyl Esters, Fatty Alcohols, Glycerine and Expoxidised Palm oil.
v] A keystone species is one that has a disproportionate effect on its environment relative to its biomass.
vi] IUCN is the world's oldest and largest global environmental network.

---

Custom Search

---

Introduction to Human Resource Management Textbookk Textbooks Collection	Introduction to Human Resource Management Workbooks Collection	Case Studies in Human Resource Management Volume V Case Study Volumes Collection