Greenpeace

Good news!  Thanks to people like you and the hard work of some dedicated orangutans, HSBC – the world’s largest banking and financial services company – has dropped forest-destroyer Sinar Mas from its investment management funds.

While this is bad news for Sinar Mas, which has seen a growing list of companies like Nestle, Unilever and Kraft distance themselves from the company, it is good news for Sumatran tigers, orangutans and other wildlife that call the Paradise Forests their home.

HSBC banks from California to New York were visited by activist orangutans in June.  As described in a previous post, the furry red apes monkeyed around at bank branches, amusing onlookers and drawing attention to the fact that HSBC had been passing the buck on forest destruction.  They helped flood HSBC headquarters with phone calls and email messages, adding to the excellent work of Greenpeace activists in the UK (where HSBC is headquartered).  You can read about this victory in a story published by the Guardian newspaper.

And, check out this video put together by a superstar activist in Los Angeles:

There’s still a little to be worked out with HSBC.  For example, the bank should make sure its forest policy applies to all areas of their business to avoid loopholes.  HSBC has a review scheduled for September to decide whether to exclude other palm oil companies from its Climate Change Fund, where some of those Sinar Mas shares were held.  We'll be keeping tabs on the process and will let you know how it turns out.

In the meantime, pat yourselves on the back and take a moment to enjoy a bit of good news.

For the forests,

-Rolf

If you're a fan of forests, you've probably heard a lot recently about the Greenpeace Paradise Forest campaign.  In particular, you may have heard about the giant conglomerate Sinar Mas which dominates the palm oil industry in Indonesia.  Greenpeace has documented Sinar Mas repeatedly breaking industry guidelines, Indonesian law and its own public statements, razing rainforests to the ground in its race to produce palm oil.  The growing controversy around their role in destroying rainforests crucial to endangered wildlife like orangutans and Sumatran tigers has led companies like Nestle, Kraft and Unilever to start cutting Sinar Mas palm oil out of their supply chains.

Sinar Mas is a huge conglomerate, and palm oil is only one of its businesses...and only one of the ways it destroys rainforests.  Asia Pulp & Paper – it’s giant paper branch – is one of the largest paper companies in the world, and one of the worst threats to rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands in Indonesia.

A new Greenpeace report released today exposes the destructive practices of APP and shines a light on the companies that are still doing business Sinar Mas.  The report also counters recent APP greenwash, including its claim that its suppliers “only develop least valuable degraded forests and denuded [barren] wasteland.”  Pulping the Planet shows that the company is still sourcing from critical orangutan and Sumatran tiger habitat such as the Bukit Tigapulu Forest Landscape and Kerumutan Peat Forest.  The report details how that rainforest and peatland destruction is also causing huge amounts of climate pollution. 

You can read the report here (you’ll need Adobe Reader and some patience to download the report since it’s a pretty big file).

The report has already earned a lot of international attention and been reported on in with media outlets such as the New York Times, CNN and Time Magazine.

The report also draws attention to companies like Pizza Hut, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts that Sinar Mas listed as key global customers in 2009.  With leading food companies like Nestle, Kraft and Unilever taking action to sever business ties with rainforest-destroying companies, you have to wonder what fast-food companies are waiting for...are they waiting for activist orangutans to show up at their door?  That could be arranged!

Give fast food companies a wake up call.  Click here to tell them to stop serving up rainforest destruction!

For the forests,

 -Rolf