Borneo Geographic People

Greenpeace and Bruno Manser Fund protest Finnish company’s palm oil
purchases

JOINT PRESS RELEASE BY BRUNO MANSER FUND, SWITZERLAND, AND GREENPEACE

14 April 2011 for immediate release

Protest at Neste Oil meeting of shareholders in Finland – Swiss NGO: Neste Oil´s palm oil supplier IOI violating land rights, destroying forests

Helsinki/Finland. Activists from Greenpeace are today protesting in Helsinki against deforestation and social problems caused by the growing demand for palm oil in biofuel production. Activists are welcoming shareholders to the annual general meeting of Finnish oil refiner Neste Oil with banners saying: Neste Oil – destroying the rainforests.

Huge investments in biodiesel production have made the company one of the largest single users of palm oil globally. Neste Oil celebrated the opening ceremony of the world´s largest biodiesel refinery in Singapore in March and the next refinery will be opened in Rotterdam later this year. In Indonesia and Malaysia, rainforest and peatlands are being cleared for commodities like palm oil. This causes significant greenhouse gases emissions and also destroys the habitat of endangered species like the orang utans.

The company claims to produce sustainable biofuels, but in practice it is driving a huge increase in global demand for palm oil. Furthermore, only last week, Neste Oil´s sustainability claims took a serious blow when the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) suspended all current and on going certifications of IOI, one of its key suppliers, due to land conflict issues in its operations in Sarawak, Malaysia and illegal deforestation in Ketapang, Indonesia [1], said Matti Liimatainen, Forest Campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic in Finland.

Speaking in a Greenpeace press briefing today in Helsinki, director Lukas Straumann from Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fonds, specialist in defending rainforests and indigenous people in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, said with regard to IOI:

IOI is far away from being a responsible palm oil producer. The company neglects the problems that it is causing, it does not communicate openly and transparently, causes land conflicts and destroys forests with high conservation values. We find it very strange that European palm oil buyers accept a producer acting like this as their business partner.

In March 2011, in the village of Long Teran Kanan in Sarawak, Malaysia, inhabitants blocked roads to prevent IOI continuing to trespass and harvest palm oil on their lands. This was despite a court ruling over one year ago which declared that IOI’s license to operate was null and void [2]. Recently announced plans by the state of Sarawak to open one million more hectares of land for new palm oil plantations are shocking. Expansion of palm oil plantations is taking place in lands that are important for the culture and livelihoods of indigenous people. And the driving force is growing demand for palm oil, for instance the massive biofuel plans in Europe, said Straumann.

Palm oil biodiesel linked to rainforest destruction is no solution to climate change. On the contrary, it exacerbates the problem if rainforests are felled to make way for palm oil for cars. Even if Neste Oil were only to use existing agricultural land for the production of its palm oil for biofuels, the result of their action means that those agricultural areas will be displaced and established elsewhere, quite possibly still at the expense of forests and valuable ecosystems.

“For climate gains, driving on palm oil from deforestation is not an option”, says forest campaigner Matti Liimatainen.

For more information, please see: http://www.greenpeace.fi/palmoil and http://www.bmf.ch/en

[1] http://www.rspo.org/?q=content/announcement-ioi-rspo-grievance-panel-breach-rspo-code-conduct-23-certification-systems-424-

[2] http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9424:sarawak-ioi-pelita-continue-to-trespass-into-ncr-land-despite-court-ruling-prompting-blockade-by-the-natives&catid=62:southeast-asia-indigenous-peoples&Itemid=84

KOTA KINABALU (18th Feb 2011): Malaysia has received a pat on the back from the international community for its decision to call off using coal for energy in Sabah, a move that will open doors to clean power options in the state.

Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the World Bank, Professor Daniel M. Kammen said by cancelling a proposed coal plant in favour of sustainable energy options, Malaysia has opted to invest in a healthy economy and environment for the state of Sabah.

“This is a turning point that should bring deserved praise and partnerships to Malaysia at the upcoming climate conference in Durban, South Africa.

“I am truly thrilled by the efforts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and for their leadership in directing the course of the nation and state towards a diverse mixture of energy resources.

“This will help stabilize energy costs, bring new entrepreneurs into the energy field, create job growth, and cut local environmental impact and global greenhouse gas emissions growth,” Kammen said.

Green SURF (Sabah Unite to Re-Power the Future) had commissioned Kammen to prepare an energy options report for Sabah, in his capacity as Professor of Energy at the University of California in Berkeley.

“Energy and environmental victories often do not get the attention that negative events do, but here is a case where a collaborative set of environmental groups led by Green SURF worked with elected officials to create dialogue with the public, and to bring critically needed technical materials such as the energy options report we produced to decision makers.

“I am thrilled to have been able to work with the people of Sabah on this victory, and look forward to watching the international community learn from Sabah’s triumph of planning and partnership,” he said.

World Land Trust Chief Executive Officer and Founder, John Burton, congratulated the Government on making a rational decision that will have major benefits for all. “It is good that they listened to public opinion, and shows a genuine commitment to the environment,” Burton said.

Lauding the Government’s decision, 350.org Malaysia’s South East Asia Field Coordinator Abe Woo said the move has chartered a new course in history of environmental movement and energy management.

“This signals a positive and responsive government as the whole international network of 350.org continues to support bold moves by the present government in combating climate change,” Woo said.

Jamie Henn, 350.org Communications Director described it as a “victory that’s felt all around the world.”

350.org is an international movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis.

Environmental campaigner Roz Savage shared the State Government’s statement through Twitter, adding that she was honoured and proud to have been part of the campaign calling for the project to be canned. Savage was the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean and was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year 2010.

Sabah born Yee I-Lann artist and creator of the “Postcards2PM” project which saw thousands signing postcards that were sent to Najib, hoped that the authorities including Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd will engage with environmentalists in providing sound solutions.

“I hope the authorities will keep environmental protection at the forefront of all development,” Yee said.

Green SURF also received a number of reactions at its blog site, with readers giving the thumbs up to the government, happy that their voices were heard.

Wednesday’s announcement by Musa that no coal plant will be constructed in Sabah came as a welcome surprise, following months of silence by the authorities after the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment study for a site in Lahad Datu was rejected in August last year.

Source: Green SURF