The world’s largest palm oil trader says it will use satellites to monitor its suppliers in a new attempt to cut deforestation out of its supply chain. Meanwhile, Norway has become the first country in the world to ban palm oil imports for biodiesel.
The world’s largest palm oil trader, Singapore-headquartered Wilmar International, has hatched a new plan to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain following sustained pressure from green groups.
Wilmar is to map and monitor its suppliers using satellites, giving a clear picture of their activities on the ground for the first time. If suppliers are found to be clearing forest, they’ll be immediately dropped from Wilmar’s supply chain, the company pledged in a statement released this week.
The firm has also said it would engage with suppliers found to be clearing forests to avoid creating a “leakage market” of farmers who continue to deforest after suspension.
Wilmar supplies palm oil—the world’s most widely consumed edible oil—to all of the big consumer goods companies that promised to be deforestation-free by 2020 in a landmark commitment made almost a decade ago.
It was the first palm oil company to commit to stop clearing forests in 2013, and bolstered its sustainability policy two years ago. But the company has been continually linked to illegal forest clearing through its suppliers.
Last month, non-government organisation (NGO) Greenpeace scaled Wilmar’s refineries in Indonesia in protest against the company’s ties to deforestation and slammed a commitment Wilmar made in October to have a deforestation-free supply chain by 2020, saying the pledge did not go far enough to ensure its suppliers would comply.
But Greenpeace said Wilmar’s new commitment is a “potential breakthrough” for the palm oil industry, as the use of satellites will make it impossible for Wilmar or its suppliers to get away with forest clearing undetected.
The NGO said it would monitor Wilmar’s progress, and suspend its publicity campaign against the company to give it space to implement the plan.