Palm Oil Matters http://deforestationwatch.org Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:02:35 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://deforestationwatch.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://deforestationwatch.org Palm Oil Matters http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Greenpeace-and-Sinar-Mas-Whitewashing-the-so-called-greenwash.html Independent auditors, hired by the Sinar Mas group to investigate Greenpeace claims that its palm oil unit PT Smart had cleared deep peatland and forest without permits, said the giant conglomerate “misreported” elements of its audit when it declared its unit was largely free from wrongdoings. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:40:36 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Bogus-palm-oil-campaigns-by-green-groups-unethical.html Who can blame oil palm growers in Malaysia and Indonesia if they are wary of Western non-governmental organisations (NGOs)? After all, the plantation players have endured constant anti-palm oil campaigns spearheaded by environmental NGOs over the years. But lately, one US-based NGO, World Growth, has become an ally by championing the palm oil industry’s role in eradicating poverty in developing countries. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:00:05 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-FELDA-Potential.html AFTER the exit of Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh, the task of managing Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd and Felda Holdings Bhd is once again entrusted in the hands of another Felda outsider, Datuk Sabri Ahmad. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:54:58 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Palm-OilSinar-Mas-refutes-Greenpeace-s-lies-on-its-environmental-record.html The chairman of an Indonesian palm oil producer hit by a boycott over allegations it is destroying tropical rainforest deliberately says its plantations are 100 per cent sustainable.Greenpeace, the UK-based environmental group, published the latest in a series of reports this month, alleging that Singapore-listed Golden Agri Resources and other forest products companies controlled by Indonesia’s Widjaja family have destroyed rainforest areas and undermined endangered species. The latest Greenpeace report accuses Golden Agri, which accounts for 10 per cent of Indonesian palm oil production, of violating promises to become sustainable and seeking to expand its land area vastly to continue the practices.However, Franky Widjaja, chairman and chief executive, said Golden Agri had abided by every requirement of the Indonesian government and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a monitoring group that includes the WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, in making its plantations fully sustainable. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:49:08 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-EU-Using-Greenpeace-to-Block-Palm-Oil.html The Indonesian palm oil industry claims to be the victim of a “black campaign” waged by European biofuel producers through Greenpeace and the EU’s renewable energy directive.Fadil Hasan, executive director of the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil Producers (Gapki), said the recent Greenpeace campaign against Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas and the EU directive were partly designed to make Indonesian palm oil producers less able to compete with European biofuel producers. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:07:04 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/IFC-and-World-Bank-proposes-engagement-with-palm-oil.html International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank released a draft framework for engagement in the palm oil sector, detailing an approach that aligns with the World Bank Group mission to fight poverty without compromising economic, environmental or social sustainability, and inviting further public comment. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:32:13 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Palm-oil-The-versatile-oil.html WHO would have thought that such disparate items as organic toothpaste, environmentally-friendly tissue paper, fish food and a heavy metal filtering system could come out of palm oil waste products?These items were but a few of those on display during the Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB) Open Day last month in conjunction with its 10th anniversary. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:17:45 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Palm-Oil-and-Poverty-Eradication.html Writing in the International Herald Tribune late last year, Tun Dr. Lim Yeng Kaik, a former senior Malaysian Cabinet minister, characterized the campaign of Western environmental activists to restrict the palm oil industry as the environmental version of the “White Man’s Burden”. The aim was to impose western values on colonial peoples. He coined the term the Green Man’s burden. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:28:28 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Palm-Oil-Who-benefits-from-forest-moratorium.html It didn’t take long for palm oil producers to respond to Norway’s recently signed US$1 billion grant, given in exchange for a two-year moratorium on any new clearing of Indonesia’s rainforest and peatlands. Association of Palm Oil Producers secretary-general Joko Supriyono urged the government to reassess the planned moratorium, citing that its members were struggling with forest concessions that contained unproductive land not suitable for productive growth. Indonesian Palm Oil Commission executive director Rosediana Suharto went further, noting that developing countries including Indonesia need to prioritize economic development over the environment. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:28:39 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-World-Banks-Strategy-for-Palm-Oil-Slammed.html The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation is examining its “global strategy” for future development assistance investments in the palm oil sector — a sector vital to growth and job creation in Indonesia, Malaysia and other developing countries — after suspending it in late 2009 in response to pressure from environmental activists.But groups seeking to restrict further development of the global palm oil sector and limit access to developed-country markets in Europe and elsewhere would block new opportunities for raising living standards and reducing poverty in the developing world, and potentially harm trade and investment partners too.To counter this, the World Bank should adopt a pro-growth strategy that continues to support palm oil investment programs in developing countries. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:47:20 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Palm-Oil-industy-players-hopeful-after-EU-policymakers-visit.html The recent news on European Union (EU) lawmakers’ views on the long standing issue of the sustainable palm oil production in Malaysia, is a positive development for the local palm oil industry, but some uncertainties still remain.On Monday, news reported that the EU policymakers were increasingly convinced that Malaysia is on the same path as the EU on the sustainability of palm oil production, however more scientific data to support Malaysia’s case was needed.It was reported that Dan Jorgensen, who is the vice-chairman of the environment, public health and food safety committee in the European Parliament, had promised to bring Malaysia’s case on its discrimination versus other oils in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Articles & Papers - Key Papers Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:55:38 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-World-Growth-Palm-Oil-most-efficient-for-biofuel.html Palm Oil is the most efficient vegetable oil for biofuel and the campaign that coversion of forests for palm oil leads to widespread increases in emissions in misleading, according to the NGO World Growth.It said research studies support the conclusion that palm oil is the most efficient vegetable oil for biofuels in anticipation of the EU Energy Commission's expected affirmation of current biofuel rules on Thursday. Chairman Alan Oxley, former Ambassador to the GATT -- predecessor to the WTO, issued the following statement:“Whatever Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger announces on Thursday, he will remain bound by the protectionist decision of the European Parliament to limit imports of biofuels from foreign sources like palm oil in favor of more expensive and less sustainable European biofuels. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:17:11 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Can-Palm-oil-tocotrienol-limit-stroke-damage.html The statistics speak for themselves: about 700,000 Americans will have a stroke this year and an estimated 137,000 will die as a result. Another 40 percent will be left with moderate to severe impairments that require special care.According to Ohio State Medical Center researchers, supplementing your diet with a natural form of vitamin E called alpha tocotrienol extracted from palm oil might protect your brain's sensitive nerve cells, perhaps limiting the damage caused by a stroke.Ohio State professor and associate dean for research at the university's medical center, Chandan Sen says Alpha tocotrienol is markedly more potent than the more common available forms of vitamin E in its ability to help protect neurons in the brain from damage or death. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Fri, 11 Jun 2010 03:08:34 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Malaysia-cries-foul-with-EU-Renewable-Energy-Directive-against-palm-oil.html Deforestation Watch is pleased to republish this report on the unfair trade practices adopted by the EU in relation to palm oil, which has led to Malaysia resolving to file a complaint with the WTO on the discriminatory practises of the EU over palm oil. Malaysia has no qualms about taking the discriminatory EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) requirements for palm oil usage as biofuel to the World Trade Organisation, said Malaysian Palm Oil Council chief executive officer Tan Sri Yusof Basiron.“This is no joke but we will have to wait and cannot act on it now as the EU RED will only be implemented as national legislation by the year-end,” he told local and foreign participants on the last day of the International Palm Oil Sustainability Conference yesterday.Yusof said the proposed directive had not only affected palm oil exports into Europe but also disrupted the business of European biodiesel producers planning to use palm oil as feedstock for their biofuel production.He said palm oil greenhouse gas emission default values were severely misrepresented to disqualify palm oil from being used as approved biofuel in the European Union (EU). Articles & Papers - Key Papers Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:09:25 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Palm-Oil-wins-India-s-corporate-farming-sweepstakes.html Deforestation Watch is pleased to republish an article by Nidhi Nath Srinivas of the Economic Times which will put in perspective the underlying reason behind the anti-palm oil campaigns.Baby vegetables may have glamour. But oil palms – nerdy tropical trees with oily fruit – have won the corporate farming sweepstakes. Oil palm plantations have become to cooking oil companies what coal blocks are to power plants: a sure-shot bet on India’s exploding energy demand. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Tue, 11 May 2010 21:10:59 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Cargill-refutes-Rainforest-Action-Network-s-wild-deforestation-claims.html In a statement, Cargill calls the lie to the wild claims by the Rainforest Action Network that the company had destroyed rainforests in Indonesia for its oil palm plantations. Deforestation Watch is pleased to publish the statement in full.Cargill is a leader in growing and developing sustainable oil palm and we are working with well-respected environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including WWF and Fauna Flora International, to assist us and to support the sustainable development of palm oil in Indonesia. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Fri, 07 May 2010 20:19:37 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Genome-breakthrough-to-boost-qualities-of-palm-oil.html The world demand for palm oil has soared in the last two decades, first for its use in food, consumer products and more recently as the raw material for the production of biofuel.Demand for palm oil is on the move as biofuel and biodiesel demand is growing steadily. The main thing is to inprove the oil yield from palm oil plant. For this purpose strong research and development efforts are going on across the major palm oil producing countries. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Sun, 02 May 2010 16:02:37 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Palm-Oil-Ignorance-and-the-Illusion-of-Knowledge.html It was Daniel J. Boorstin, winner of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize in History who famously said: “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -- it is the illusion of knowledge!”How apt when we apply this to the recent call by the Australian Heart Foundation for food manufacturers to be forced to label all products containing palm oil to “help push down the nation's soaring levels of saturated fat consumption”. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:53:10 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/Greenpeace-orangutans-and-palm-oil.html In a scene reflective of their simian mentality, Greenpeace campaigners abseiled into Nestle's annual shareholders meeting on Thursday to urge the food giant to stop using palm oil they alleged were harvested from rainforest destruction.An AFP photographer saw the two activists break through the roof and abseil into the hall with mountaineering gear. They hung a banner with the slogan Nestle, Give the orangutans a break! -- in a play on a Nestle marketing slogan -- and remained dangling about 20 metres (66 feet) above the shareholders' heads as the meeting continued. Fellow protestors dressed in bright orange orangutan suits handing out leaflets outside the meeting were arrested. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:39:33 +0100 http://deforestationwatch.org/index.php/Key-Papers/-Deforestation-Palm-Oil-and-Desperados.html This site has been hacked twice in the past month. In all likelihood, this is the cowardly action of desperate people. People who have run out of ideas as to how to stop the exposes that we run regularly against environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Rainforest Action Network who have run untruthful,shady and deceitful campaigns against palm oil. Articles & Papers - Key Papers Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:15:54 +0100