Palm Oil Companies Slow in Meeting Sustainability Goal
2011 December 5
Palm oil, a key ingredient in a variety of major consumer goods like cookies and household cleaning products, accounts for around a third of the world’s vegetable oil trade. Interest in palm oil as an alternative fuel is likely to increase investment, with consumption expected to grow from 50 million tons a year now to at least 77 million tons in 2050, according to the environmental group W.W.F. But that growth will take its toll on the environment, especially in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer.
As consumers pay more attention to the environmental damage caused by palm oil planting, pressure has increased on manufacturers to use sustainable sources. Unilever, McDonald’s and Nestlé have pledged to use only sustainable palm oil by 2015.
However, a scorecard released by the W.W.F. last month found that the companies that had promised to move toward sustainable oil still got only 47 percent of their supply from sources certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, showing no improvement from 2010.
Published in the New York Times, 05 December 2011
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