Comments on: Getting a sustainable bargain - orangutans excepted

By: frog

frog — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 02:12:24 +0000

Thanks for that comment dereesi. I was not aware that The Warehouse previously produced a Triple Bottom Line report - that is a backwards step. However, flawed though it may be, I still think it is positive that a company is producing a report like this, simply for that fact that it starts to normalise the idea that social and environmental impacts are something the businesses should be taking into account as part of their regular business audits.

I also still think it’s great that they only choose certified legal and sustainable tropical timber.

By: dereesi

dereesi — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 01:22:53 +0000

FYI the non independently audited ‘Society and Environment Report” that The Warehouse is now producing in-house is actually a step backwards from what they once used - which was an outside audited Triple Bottom Line Report. The ‘environmental’ improvements The Warehouse has implemented are simply cost cutting measures that have everything to do with their bottom line and nothing to do with the environment.
Regarding their factory audits in China, again they use their own paid in-house “auditor” - and China is notorious for putting on a front for these scheduled “audits”. Am really surprised fogblog is championing this most destructive and unethical company.

By: eredwen

eredwen — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:49:12 +0000

Thanks for the info Michelle!

By: mdesilets

mdesilets — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:42:02 +0000

Thanks for getting this information out. There is a great team of people in Australia and New Zealand working on the sustainable palm oil campaign there, based on what we have done here in the UK. The report mentioned about published by FOE and written by BOS UK is called the Oil for Ape Scandal report and it is available as a downloadable pdf. This along with a large pamphlet for consumers and postcards to be sent to UK govt made the basis of a UK wide public campaign calling for the sustainable sourcing of palm oil. We have been successful in getting the top five supermarkets in the UK to sign up to the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (www.rspo.org) as well as many other companies. The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have spoken to their counterparts in Indonesia and Malaysia about this problem, having been made aware of it through public letter-writing to MP’s and a great deal of press.
Whilst we do not call for a boycott of palm oil, we do support efforts by MEP’s in the EU that are calling for a ban of the use of palm oil (as well as soya and sugar cane) in the production of biofuels until they can be sustainably sourced. Germany has already passed this law.
Please visit http://www.SafePalmOil.org and http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk for more information. Contact me directly through the orangutan website if you are interested in becoming involved in the campaign for sustainable palm oil in NZ (or worldwide).
Michelle

By: Prim

Prim — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:20:24 +0000

I think that it is a sad statement about our society that we have tolerated this situation for so long. The wildlife has suffered immensely, while the overweight people of the West no doubt eat too much of the stuff, while driving like there is no tomorrow, adding to the problems .

I’ll be checking product labels for palm oil from now on. And will try to avoid products with it.

By: anthonyr

anthonyr — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:17:57 +0000

Friends of the Earth have also put out this press release, which is compelling and should be brought to the attention of New Zealand businesses.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/one_in_ten_supermarket_pr o_22092005.html

By: musti

musti — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:13:45 +0000

Thanks ! It makes it clear that political parties are far too beholden to their big donation contributors and it shows the limitations of democracy’s coexistence with capitalism.

By: pingpong

pingpong — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:41:56 +0000

A lot of the demand for palm oil is coming from its potential for biofuel, and this is “fueling” the destruction of the forests and the biggest share of global carbon emission.

George Monbiot points out that the market always goes for the cheapest source, and, in dollar terms, this is palm oil. One of the “unforeseen” consequences of the move to retain fossil fuels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_oil

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/06/worse-than-fossil-fuel/

By: Prim

Prim — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:30:52 +0000

anthonyr - I think you are right. I’d really like a list of products to avoid, and alternatives that don’t have palm oil in them.

By: anthonyr

anthonyr — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:18:28 +0000

The fires of Borneo represent a serious ecological disaster, and it is one that is driven by consumer demand for palm oil, which goes into soaps, fish and chips, fast foods, biscuits. The fires are producing 20x the greenhouse gas emissions that the UK produces in one year, or so I read in BBC news. Someone needs to put out a press release informing New Zealand businesses that they need to find alternatives to unsustainable palm oil. Hydrogenated vegetable oils will do the same job. The New Zealand government could also put some diplomatic pressure on the Indonesian government to enforce their own laws. It is essential that the New Zealand public become informed, and that action taken against this serious environmental catastrophe. Why have the Greens not put out a press release?