Unilever to trace source of its oil palm
Uniliver has announced that by the end of 2014, all of the palm oil Unilever buys globally will be traceable to known sources.
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In a statement issued by its business giants, Marc Engel, Chief Procurement Officer said “Market transformation can only happen if everyone involved takes responsibility and is held accountable for driving a sustainability agenda.
He said the progress has been made possible by the commitment and efforts of a number of their strategic suppliers.
“We will continue to engage with our suppliers, NGOs, governments, RSPO, end users and other industry stakeholders to develop collaborative solutions to halt deforestation, protect peat land, and to drive positive economic and social impact for people and local communities.”
“Unilever’s 2014 commitment marks a very promising step on the continuing journey towards real market transformation to sustainable palm oil,” Mr Richard Holland, Director of World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Market Transformation Initiative.
Unilever’s role and actions have been instrumental on this journey so far. They helped us establish the RSPO in 2004 and have been closely involved in its development into a credible institution and standard. But as importantly, Unilever has also matched its commitment with action on buying RSPO certified sustainable palm oil.
That is why we ranked Unilever amongst the top scorers in the industry in our Palm Oil Scorecard. WWF also encourages leading companies in the sector to set the industry benchmarks on important issues like traceability, protection of peat lands, significant GHG reductions and no deforestation. We urge other companies along the palm oil value chain to follow the lead shown by Unilever”.
Unilever is one of the world’s major buyers of palm oil for use in products such as margarine, ice cream, soap and shampoo. It purchases around 1.5 million tonnes of palm oil and its derivatives annually, which represents about three per cent of the world’s total production.
