Seven years since making zero deforestation commitments, major meatpackers in Brazil have demonstrated progress in not buying from forest destruction directly. Nonetheless they are still unable ensure that they are not purchasing from deforestation indirectly and these companies not yet set a deadline for addressing this loophole. The meatpackers’ zero deforestation commitments are still not fully satisfied until they can ensure that they are not buying from any farms involved in deforestation both directly and indirectly.
In recent years, the world’s biggest companies have woken up to the environmental costs associated with palm oil and the other commodities they buy. Nowhere are those costs more evident than in Indonesia, which has lost 31 million hectares of forest, an area almost the size of Germany, since 1990.
Ending deforestation is our best chance to conserve wildlife and defend the rights of forest communities. On top of that, it’s one of the quickest and most cost effective ways to curb global warming. That’s why we’re campaigning for a deforestation-free future.
Agribusiness—in which huge areas of forest are burned or cleared to make space for crops and livestock—is the number one driver of deforestation worldwide.
Today, Indonesia’s second largest pulp and paper producer agreed to turn off the bulldozers and protect the forest and high carbon peatlands and begin respecting the rights of local communities. This is a major breakthrough and we commend APRIL and parent company the Royal Golden Eagle Group for taking this step.
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