Two major consumer products companies — General Mills and Colgate-Palmolive — have committed to using palm oil in their products that does not come from lands cleared from tropical forests, adding to the wave of corporations that have pledged measures to protect southeast Asian rainforests.
The consumer giants’ new policies go beyond standards set by the industry’s main certification body and include provisions to protect wildlife-rich rainforests, carbon-dense peatlands, and the rights of local communities.
Environmental groups are welcoming the commitments, though some believe the companies’ pledges should go further. The Union of Concerned Scientists questions General Mills’ definition of “high carbon stock” forests, while Greenpeace is urging Colgate-Palmolive to move implementation up to 2015 from 2020.
Environmental groups are hopeful that new commitments will pressure Proctor & Gamble, the last remaining consumer products giant without a similar pledge, to adopt deforestation-free palm oil policies.