Posted on 11/11/2007 5:15:12 PM PST by ricks_place
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (OneWorld) - Major U.S. companies are adding to the impending threat of global warming as they drive the production of palm oil in Indonesia's tropical forests, says a new study by an international environmental organization. According to the study released by Greenpeace International this week, Indonesia is losing its peat forests at a rapid pace due to massive operations by U.S.-based commercial concerns engaged in palm oil extraction.
Palm oil is widely used in food and cosmetic products, and, therefore, its demand is constantly on the rise, said Greenpeace researchers who conducted the study.
Indonesia's tropical forests are considered by the scientific community to be some of the world's great "carbon sinks," and hence a solid defense in the fight against global warming.
The report, entitled "Cooking the Climate," comes at a time when world leaders are preparing to gather in the Indonesian city of Bali next month to decide next steps to combat climate change after the Kyoto agreement expires in 2012.
The Greenpeace report shows how companies are driving peatland destruction in the Indonesian province of Riau on the island of Sumatra, currently home to 25 percent of the country's palm oil plantations.
There are plans to expand the area under concession by more than 11,000 square miles, which would deforest and cover half the province with plantations, said the report's authors.
In a statement, they expressed fears of "devastating consequences" for Riau's peatlands, noting that these lands have already been seriously degraded by industrial development and store a massive 14.6 billion tons of carbon -- roughly one year's global greenhouse gas emissions.
Research conducted by Greenpeace from its Forest Defenders Camp in Riau also documents how a major Indonesian palm oil producer is engaging in "the large-scale, illegal destruction of peatland in flagrant violation" of an Indonesian presidential order and national forestry regulations.
Palm oil is fed into the supply chain for global brands such as Pringles potato chips and KitKat candy. Major multinational companies are all named in the report for turning a blind eye to peatland destruction in their quest for cheap vegetable oil.
Among others, they include Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Burger King, Cargill, Dove Soap, Kraft, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever. According to Greenpeace, they are driving the demand for palm oil used in products such as Oreo cookies and Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
Currently, the destruction of Indonesian peatlands accounts for about 4 percent of annual global carbon emissions, Greenpeace said.
"This investigation shows that a handful of international corporations are ultimately responsible for slashing and burning Indonesia's peatland forests for food, fuel, and laundry detergent," said Emmy Hafild, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
In Hafild's words, "some of the best known brands in the world are literally cooking the climate."
The report's authors also expressed concern about the consequences of palm oil's use as a "biofuel," and said that replacing forests and peatlands with palm oil plantations would release more carbon dioxide than is saved by burning biofuels in place of diesel fuel.
Scientists say forest destruction is responsible for about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"At next month's UN climate conference in Bali, political leaders must wake up to the fact that we need to make deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions -- and make them fast," said Rolf Skar, a Greenpeace forests campaigner.
"Protecting peatlands and other forest areas from destruction is one of the most simple, cost-effective insurance options against global warming."
I just can’t believe these people and their unlimited capacity to spew garbage.
—What Would Algore Do—???
The sun warms the earth. Man does not warm the earth. Are the majority of humans now stuck on stupid? Or is it mainly the MSM and Al Gore that are stuck on stupid?
If it comes from Palms then they are adding zero net carbon to the atmospehere.
Yeah, it's a scam and not a very good one, but hey, it doesn't have to be good to work. It just needs good advertising.
Better yet, tell them that all of this FOSSIL FUEL CARBON was once in the atmosphere already and is now being returned at a relatively slow rate. It will be a VERY LONG TIME before we have returned all the carbon that is in FOSSIL FUELS back to the atmosphere (if we ever live long enough to reach that point).
If the world cooled before with higher levels of CO2 in it, it most certainly can handle the re-accumulation of the same carbon.
Since the planet is warming, wouldn't it's core temperature rise as well? Are there any updates on the 'saving Muther Erf' front?
I’ve heard of peat bogs and peat soils, common in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ireland, but what is a peat forest? Can someone enlighten me?
Isn't this the predictable result of trans fats hysteria and bans? Did these loons think that oils and shortenings with trans-fat would be replaced with carrot juice rather than with oils that don't have trans fats?
the Greenpiece nuts are against
certain people owning private cars.
biofuel is unstoppable
~~ AGW™ ping~~
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