Unilever: Protesters Go Ape Over Palm Oil Use

Unilever has become the latest company to be targeted by Greenpeace protestors for alleged unethical business practices. This time, the controversy is focused on Unilever’s use of palm oil. Although Unilever claims that it is addressing palm oil sustainability issues, the company would be unwise to ignore the growing band of consumers that are worried about environmental issues.

A number of Greenpeace activists, some dressed as orang-utans, recently entered Unilever sites in London and Merseyside, as well as in Rotterdam and Rome, to highlight the plight of the animal in Indonesia. The protesters are concerned that Unilever is buying palm oil from companies which cut down rainforests in the country in order to make way for palm oil plantations, in the process destroying urang-utan habitats.

Unilever, as one of the largest single buyers of palm oil, is an obvious choice for protestors. The company uses the oil – which is thought to be the most widely used edible oil – to make a variety of consumer goods, from soap and cosmetics, to food ingredients.

However, rising demand for the oil has made it increasingly difficult for companies to address sustainability issues. Palm oil use is growing as India and China become more affluent, while the global demand for biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels is also leading demand to rise.

On the face of it, Unilver appears to be leading the way in the issue of palm oil. Unilever chairs a palm oil sustainability committee, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which includes Oxfam, WWF, plantation owners, and manufacturers and retailers. The aim of the committee is to search for solutions to achieving sustainable palm oil. However, as Greenpeace has commented, the committee has not led to a certified sustainable palm oil being brought to market. Making such an oil available would be a big step forward in the process of sustainable production.

UK retailer Sainsbury recently announced plans to only sell own-brand products made from sustainable palm oil, showing that other large companies are responding proactively to green issues. The Greenpeace protest highlights that Unilever perhaps needs to make a greater commitment to palm oil sustainability, so that it will not continue to receive the adverse publicity that such protests generate in the future.