Nestlé needs to give rainforests a break

Nestlé is using palm oil that comes from destroyed forests

Need a break? Before you have one with a Kit Kat watch this video - 'Have a break?' We need your help to get the rainforests a break and to help you spread the word we've launched this video spoof. It exposes the true cost behind having a break the Kit Kat way: you could be taking a bite out of Indonesia's precious rainforests, thanks to Nestlé, maker of Kit Kat, using palm oil that comes from forest destruction.

This morning, protests took place across Europe as around 100 Greenpeace activists, some dressed as orang-utans, went to Nestlé's headquarters and factories in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. They called on Nestlé staff to urge the company to stop using palm oil that's the result of forest destruction.

Nestlé uses palm oil in a wide array of its products - including Kit Kat. Demand for palm oil has been increasing so much that the companies that sell it are leveling rainforests in Indonesia to make way for palm oil plantations.

We need those rainforests. They play a crucial role in regulating our climate and absorbing CO2. The companies that produce palm oil are cutting down the lungs of the planet and contributing to making Indonesia the third largest carbon emitter after the United States and China.

Yes, you read that right. Deforestation is actually responsible for more carbon emissions than all the cars, trucks, planes, and automobiles in the world: 1/5 of total emissions.

But that's not all. Deforestation is also trashing orang-utan habitat, pushing this already endangered species to the brink of extinction, and destroying the livelihoods of local people.

Bottom line: it's time for Nestlé to give rainforests a break and stop buying palm oil that comes from destroyed forests.

Nestlé is the largest food and drinks company in the world, and already a major consumer of palm oil - the last three years have seen Nestlé's use of palm oil almost double. Considering its size and influence, it should be setting an example for the industry and ensuring its palm oil is destruction free. Instead, Nestlé continues to buy from companies, like Sinar Mas, that are destroying Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands.

Sinar Mas: 'Notorious forest destroyer'

Sinar Mas is the largest producer of palm oil in Indonesia. It supplies many food, drink,cosmetic and biofuel companies worldwide - including Nestlé. Sinar Mas is also breaking Indonsian law by clearing protected forests for its palm oil plantations.

Greenpeace's new report launched today - 'Caught Red-Handed: How Nestlé's Use of Palm Oil is Having a Devastating Impact on Rainforest, the Climate and Orang-utans' (pdf) - exposes the links between Nestlé and palm oil suppliers, including Sinar Mas, that are expanding their plantations into carbon-rich peatlands and rainforests. Not only are these areas key habitat for orang-utans, but also crucial carbon stores; the destruction of these areas is a major cause of Indonesia's rocketing carbon emissions.

None of this should come as a surprise to Nestlé. We have contacted them with evidence of Sinar Mas's practices many times, most recently in December, yet Nestlé continues to use Sinar Mas palm oil in its products, including Kit Kat. Other leading companies have stopped buying from Sinar Mas as a result of its shocking environmental and social practices. Unilever canceled a $30 USD million dollar contract last year, while Kraft canceled its contract last month.

We know consumer activism works: we've seen it again and again. And we know that if enough of us tell Nestlé that we're not going to put up with any monkeying around, they will do the right thing. But we need you to tell them. And we need you to tell your friends to tell them.

You can tell them that Indonesia has the fastest rate of deforestation of any major forested country in the world - earning it an unfortunate place in The Guinness Book of World Records. Indonesia's rainforests deserve a break.

Watch the film on Vimeo or on YouTube

UPDATE:

Only a few hours after the launch of our spoof Kit Kat video Nestlé had it removed from YouTube - but this did not stop the video from being seen by thousands. After thirty hours the total number of views on the different versions of the video was over 189.000 - and still climbing. It was re-posted many times over by people determined to get the word out that Nestle needs to clean up its act.

This is despite Nestlé's announcement that they will cancel contracts with Sinar Mas. This doesn't go nearly far enough because they will still be using Sinar Mas palm oil, but just getting it from other suppliers. We will continue our campaign until they have removed Sinar Mas palm oil from their supply chain completely. Nestlé has much more to do before it can claim to have cleaned up its act and given rainforests a break.

Nestlé continues to use palm oil from major forest destroyers like Sinar Mas, despite their announcement. Ask them to remove rainforest destruction palm oil from their supply chains completely by engaging with the palm oil industry and Indonesian government to call for peatland protection, and an immediate end to deforestation.

Tell Nestlé to give orang-utans and rainforests a real break.

Source: GreenPeace.org - March 17th 2010

UPDATE May 19th 2010

Sweet success for Kit Kat campaign: you asked, Nestlé has answered

A big 'Thank You!' to the hundreds of thousands of you who supported our two-month Kit Kat campaign by e-mailing Nestlé, calling them, or spreading the campaign message via your Facebook, Twitter and other social media profiles. This morning, Nestlé finally announced a break for the orang-utan - as well as Indonesian rainforests and peatlands - by committing to stop using products that come from rainforest destruction. The new policy commits Nestlé to identify and exclude companies from its supply chain that own or manage 'high risk plantations or farms linked to deforestation'. This would apply to notorious Sinar Mas, a palm oil and paper supplier that Greenpeace has repeatedly caught destroying the rainforest - if it fails to meet Nestlé's new criteria - and also have implications for Cargill, one of Nestlé's palm oil suppliers which purchases from Sinar Mas.

Nestlé's announcement sends a strong message to the palm oil and paper industry that rainforest destruction is not an acceptable practice in today's global marketplace - and it wouldn't have happened without you. From the very beginning, the strength of our Kit Kat campaign has been the truly amazing support from the public - online and offline - both concerned consumers and social media-savvy activists alike.

The support from the online community has been clear since day one when our 'Have a break?' video's removal from YouTube sparked online calls of censorship, several spin-off uploads to YouTube, and drove hundreds of thousands of views on the video within hours of it being re-uploaded to Vimeo - the total number of views on all versions of the video is now over 1.5 million!

Facebook was another key online arena for the Kit Kat campaign, where a steady stream of pressure was applied to Nestlé via comments you left on its Facebook Fan page. While many of you also 'wore your support on your sleeve' Facebook-style by changing your profile pictures to images of orang-utans, rainforest, and our campaign Kit Kat 'killer' logo.

The power of social media combined dramatically with our direct actions to deliver the message directly to Nestlé at events like its Annual General Meeting on April 15th. Outside the meeting venue, shareholders were greeted by protesting orang-utans as they arrived, while inside our activists hid in the ceiling in order to drop down over shareholders heads just as the meeting began to deploy banners asking Nestlé to give orang-utans a break. Online our supporters were sending tweets to shareholders throughout the meeting via a fake Wi-Fi network we had set up, which sent shareholders directly to greenpeace.org/kitkat when they connected.

Online and offline the message to Nestlé has been strong and relentless over the past two months - give rainforests and orang-utans a break. All of it - from protesting orang-utans on the streets to Facebook status updates - has brought us to today's commitment. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped us get here - now go on and announce it to the world. Please boast about your involvement in the success of our Kit Kat campaign on Facebook and Twitter - or any of your other social network profiles - you deserve it!

Our goal remains the complete protection of Indonesia's rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands. We will be watching Nestlé closely to make sure it sticks to its word and puts them into action fast. We will also continue to investigate and expose unscrupulous palm oil and paper companies that destroy rainforests and to pressure the Indonesian government to act. In the meantime, today's new Nestlé 'no deforestation footprint' policy is something to celebrate. We hope it will inspire action by other international companies - like Carrefour and Wal-mart - to hear our message that there is no room for forest destruction in the products we buy.

Let's celebrate our sweet success!

You deserve a huge round of applause for helping us get that well-deserved break for the orang-utan and for Indonesian rainforests!

Source: GreenPeace.org