14 DAY TRIAL // On April 8, Procter & Gamble went public with the news that, in the aftermath of a series of protests organized by Greenpeace members and supporters, it had finally agreed to take steps towards removing forest destruction from its palm oil supply chain.
This new no-deforestation policy might have gotten Procter & Gamble a round of applause from Greenpeace, but, as it turns out, the company still has a lot of hard work to do if it is to even stand a chance at getting a standing ovation.
As previously reported, Procter & Gamble's brand-new no-deforestation policy boils down to the following promises: that the company will ensure full traceability of the palm oil it uses by 2015, and that it will cease working with not-quite-eco-friendly suppliers by 2020.
More precisely, Procter & Gamble says that suppliers that wish to continue selling palm oil to the company after the 2020 deadline will have to prove that their working agenda does not include conversion of peatlands and/or destruction of high carbon and high conservation value regions.
Besides, Procter & Gamble maintains that it is also ready and willing to get involved in protecting communities living close to palm oil plantations. Thus, suppliers who wish to work with the company must respect the rights of local communities in areas where they harvest palm oil.
As happy and as pleased about its new no-deforestation policy as multinational consumer goods company might be, it looks like Greenpeace still has some complaining to do. The environmental group's complaints have nothing to do with Procter & Gamble goals per se, but with their deadline.
As reported back in February, when Greenpeace launched its anti-Procter & Gamble campaign, what the organization is worried about is the fact that the lands destroyed by some of the company's palm oil suppliers are home to endangered orangutans and tigers.
The environmental group maintains that, seeing how very few representative of these two species are currently left in the wild, it would be best if Procter & Gamble were to push itself a little and cut all ties with forest destruction sooner than the proposed 2020 deadline.
“The new P&G policy sets a goal of 2020 for all suppliers to be 100 per cent forest friendly. The few remaining Sumatran tigers in the world do not have another six years to wait as irresponsible companies drag their feet,” the organization writes on its website.
Because of this, Greenpeace promises that it will continue to keep a close eye on the American multinational consumer goods company and that it will do its best to get it to green up its act sooner rather than later.