Palm oil
,
Ferrero, sustainability
. The first link is certain, the second to say the least unrealistic. The names of the
palmocrats
who supply
Big Food
, and the names are unfortunately those of the ‘usual knowns’. Most famous for land robbery and a
troci
violations of
human rights
, as well as
for deforestation
.
The Ferrero group insists
unfortunately, in declaring that the palm used in Nutella and other products as an ‘
oil of excellent quality’
. The final stage of its production process – we learn from the Alba group’s website – is carried out ‘directly to
our home
‘. It would therefore be only sustainable and traceable palm oil, in theory. But the data do not add up.
Ferrero palm oil, here are the suppliers
Only the 21.3.18 Ferrero, a following persistent requests from Greenpeace, has finally published its supplier list. (1) The palm oil used by the Nutella giant comes from 9 countries and is supplied by 116 industries, 109 of which are based in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The suppliers of the group born in Alba – beyond the systematic greenwashing that characterizes Big Food – are already known in the international news for land grabbing, that is, land robbery, and ecocide. A brief review follows.
1)
Sime Darby. La
Corporation
Malaysian dominant, with 990,000 hectares of oil palm cultivation (an area larger than the entire Puerto Rico), one-fifth of which is in Liberia. 40 of Ferrero’s 116 suppliers belong to this group.
The land robberies of Sime Darby have been reported in a variety of contexts. In Liberia, local communities have set up roadblocks in an attempt to stop the onslaught of the bulldozer To their lands. (2) In Indonesia, the Dayak indigenous community appealed to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in January 2018 to denounce Sime Darby’s robbery of ancestral territories. With the connivance of RSPO, the lobby of palmocrats who claim to ensure the ‘sustainability’ of crops and yet in this case, as in countless others, did nothing. (3) Reports of torture and violent deaths of activists in turn abound, just Google the words ‘
death
‘ e ‘
torture
‘ next to Sime Darby. A real guarantee.
2)
KLK (Kuala Lumpur Lepong)
, another primary supplier to Ferrero, itself has a long history of worker abuse. Not surprisingly, CRR’s 2015 report (‘Chain Reaction Research’) classifies investments on KLK as high risk. Due to sustainability issues that are evident in the inability to trace the origin of most of its palm oil. (4) KLK devastated at least 24,000 hectares of forest in the previous seven years, and was held responsible-by the court in Sumatra, Indonesia-for virgin forest fires that resulted in more than 1.1 million tons of CO2 emissions in Sumatra and Kalimantan alone in 2014.
In Papua New Guinea, in 2015, KLK tried to attack the Collingwood Bay area, known for pristine primary forests and coral reefs at supreme levels of biodiversity. However, local indigenous communities were able to resist, thanks to a court that for the first time finally recognized their rights. (5)
KLK-whose acronym curiously resembles that of the Ku Klux Klan-is also notable for forced labor and other abuses of workers’ rights, in Indonesia especially. The so-called ‘.Sustainability Policy’ of the group dates back to the end of 2014 and moreover does not apply to suppliers, partners o joint ventures. ‘Greenwashing as usual.‘
3) FELDA Global Ventures
(FGV) is the a publicly held company controlled by FELDA (
Federal Land Development Authority),
Malaysia’s government land development agency. Heading 56 plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Slavery of migrant workers, subject to international trafficking e threats, torture and blackmail. As revealed by a newspaper investigation – the
Wall Street Journal
, in 2015 – which is also openly in favor of liberalism, but not to the point of tolerating such gross human rights abuses. (6). Also FVG and FELDA,
ça va sans dir
, are members of RSPO.
Greenpeace International, in its latest report ‘Moment of Truth‘ (2018), offers additional data and images on peatland deforestation, slavery, and other human rights abuses.(7)
The list
of Ferrero suppliers
è
long
. They include. United Plantations, Socfin, Golden Agri Resources Holdings, Salim Ivomas Pratama, Cargill, PT Musim Mas, etc.
Different names, similar stories. Overpowering the most weak, accompanied by false promises to adhere to hypothetical as well as partial standards ofsustainability. As in the case of Wilmar international, with which Ferrero only ended relations at the end of 2017.
Wilmar International
,
RSPO member since August 2005
, è
the first
trader
in the world of
palm oil
. La corporation – the subject of recent investigations by both Amnesty International, both of da Greenpeace – was co-founded by Martua Sitorus. (8) Who also figures among the founders of Gama, one of the major producers of palm oil.
Wilmar, in 2013, published a
policy
‘
No deforestation, no peat, no exploitation
‘,
(9) applicable to crops own e deits suppliers. Gathering the following from others
Corporation
such as Asian Agri, Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources. But not even that di Gama, which even though it belongs to its own group (as per the same RSPO rules)..
Wilmar so declared the sustainability of its palm oil – sold to big brands such as P&G, Nestlé, Unilever and Ferrero – hidingndoing lheinous violationsi dt h e human rights, including child slavery and environmental. Cedendo a Gama the most critical crops. Since then at least 21,500 hectares of rainforest or peatland (equal to twice the size of the city of Paris), were destroyed by Wilmar through Gama. Sopecially a Papua New Guinea.
The logic
is clear
a
. And it is confirmeda since the last report by CRR, (10) which identified 10 Corporation which alone, through Chinese and opaque box games proprietary structures, are responsible for 75% dhe entire deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.
While the palmocrats proclaim pledgesi towards to ‘sustainability’ and ‘transparency’, their ancillary realities continue the dirty work. International crimes against humanity and ecocide.
Sustainable palm oil
?
Deceptive advertising !
Dario Dongo and Giulia Torre
Notes
(1) https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ferrero-static/globalcms/documenti/2904.pdf
(2) https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/27878
(3)https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/27823
,
https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/26700
(4) https://chainreactionresearch.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/klk-crr-report-02_26_20152.pdf
(5)https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/25244-will-klk-proceed-with-the-corrupt-sepik-oil-palm-deal
(6)https://www.wsj.com/articles/palm-oil-migrant-workers-tell-of-abuses-on-malaysian-plantations-1437933321
(7) In 2016, a report was published by Aldenvironment showing that FGV drained peatland areas in two West Kalimantan concessions (PT Citra NIaga Perkasa and PT Temila Agro ABadI). FGV then published a policy on sustainability, in which it pledged not to convert high conservation value areas, peatlands etc, but satellite images show how it continued in its crimes until June 2017.Subsequent data showed how deforestation in high value areas continued until September 2017. Accused of deforestation, the company has denied responsibility, citing an independent study that says there is no deforestation of natural forests as
‘natural forests were completely destroyed by massive fires in the 1980s and 1997’
.
(8)https://www.greenpeace.org/international/publication/17241/rogue-trader-indonesia-deforestation-wilmar-gama/. June 25, 2018
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in law, master in European Food Law, she deals with agro-food, veterinary and agricultural legislation. She is a PhD in agrisystem.
