Some of the biggest companies in the palm oil industry just launched the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto. They say its a step forward - but we say it's greenwash that won't stop them trashing Indonesia's rainforests.
We've spent years trying to get palm oil growers to call off the bulldozers, so you'd think we'd be pleased that they were finally taking notice. But the solution they're selling, the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto, is a classic example of greenwash.
The SPOM, as it's snappily known, contains all the right buzzwords words. But it doesn't have any heart. The Manifesto companies say they want to protect forests, for instance, but they want 'forest' to be defined as tightly as possible.
We draw the line at high carbon stock (HCS) forest (pdf) - a well-established definition of forest that Greenpeace helped to develop. That's what many progressive palm oil companies have signed up to and what most brands are asking for.
But these companies want to redefine high carbon stock, weakening the definition to exclude as much land as possible. Having a nice leisurely chat about this also gives them a year or so to carry on destroying the rainforest.
These forest destroyers are trying to move the goalposts. By taking a term that everyone has already agreed to and weakening it, they're undermining the commitments that other companies have made.
They must think we were born yesterday. We've spent years dealing with companies that destroy forests. We know 'talk and log' when we see it.
If these companies want us to take them seriously, they need to turn off their bulldozers and put the keys out of reach. This sort of greenwash just won't wash.
