Sustainable palm oil
We do use palm oil in some of our products but we also have a long history of promoting sustainability; for example, in tea and fish. We are the leaders in the search for solutions to achieving sustainable palm oil.
We chair the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a wide-ranging coalition of organisations including OXFAM, WWF, plantation owners, and manufacturers and retailers.
In November 2007 the RSPO agreed criteria for sustainable palm oil production. These new criteria address many of Greenpeace's concerns.
The problem is simply that demand of palm oil has exploded. This is due partly to growing demand from India and China and also due to the use of palm oil as a feedstock for biofuels in the energy sector.
It is essential that all those involved sign up to agreed criteria to make sustainability work on the ground - but this is not an easy process and is taking longer than we would all like. Nevertheless, we remain absolutely committed to finding a solution.
