Unilever

The company behind brands such as Flora, Persil, Dove, Knorr and Walls has been accused of one of the greatest environmental crimes ever committed by contributing to the destruction of the orang utan's last forest habitat in Borneo.
Greenpeace's report, Burning up Borneo, says that Unilever uses 1.3 million tons of palm oil or derivative products a year, some three per cent of global production. It says the company gets half of this from Indonesia, now the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet because of deforestation.

The report says there is currently a massive expansion into Kalimantan's peatland forest areas by Unilever's suppliers and accuses the company of derailing international efforts to tackle climate change.

Tim Birch, Greenpeace's International forests campaigner, said: "Unilever, the company behind big brands like Dove, is contributing to one of the greatest environmental crimes ever committed.

"By doing nothing to stop its suppliers destroying rainforests and peatlands to grow palm oil, it is not only killing off the last remaining orang-utans on the planet but also speeding up climate change.

"Unless Unilever cleans up its act then the orang-utan could be extinct within a few years, and our chances of avoiding climate disaster could disappear with it."
Unilever chairs the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an industry body charged with ensuring the sustainability of palm oil. Greenpeace says that despite the RSPO being established in 2002 there is still no certified environmentally sustainable palm oil on the market and forest destruction continues apace.
Peat swamp forests, which host high densities of
orang-utans, are targeted for palm oil production.
Palm oil plantations are also being developed on
logged-over forest land, preventing recovery.
United Nations Environment Programme, 2007
As orang-utans and other species lose their rainforests to oil
palm plantations, they are deprived of their natural source of
food. Seeking to survive off young palm plants, hungry
orang-utans can become pests to oil palm producers, and
plantation workers commonly kill orang-utans to protect the
crop.41 According to the Centre for Orangutan Protection, at
least 1,500 orang-utans died in 2006 as a result of
deliberate attacks by plantation workers.

Thank you to Greenpeace for the information and inspiration.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Unilever
• Orang-utans
• Palm
• Oil
• Deforestation

[ArmyOfCompassionVOF]

Unilever also tests on animals for household products they produce, which is totally unnecessary and not legally required.

Unilever has no interest in animals, deforestation, or humanity.

Unilever only cares about the bottom line of profit.

[luskyrocks]

Unilever is caring a lot about sustainability issues, they are heading towards using 100% sustainable palm oil, but this may take few years to achieve this.

And of-course any company in the world is meant to gain profits, but Unilever has quite a good share of corporate social responsibility as well, yearly they sponsor a lot of money for donations, welfare and training.

[BUKURIM1]

Unilever is the best Company.

[jmifsud12]

Awesome video keep up the good work and save the orangutans. :)

[WinterSkeg]

@luskyrocks Yes. Unilever is just tops. They do absolutely everything in their power to save the oranutan's habitat. Their care for nature is so profound for I swear, when I die, I will make Unilever the sole beneficiary of my estate.

Your attitude is "corporate" all the way. Wanker.

[Ayinall]

Companies like BP and Unilever have a good 'front' of trying to impress that they are socially responsible companies. But they are not in actuality. I know from a trusted source.

[Kaligulasucks]

I'm eating Skippy right now. Mmmmmm...