Response to Greenpeace Press Release

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Posted: Nov 13, 2014 • 1 minute read • GAR • 0 Likes

We thank Greenpeace for their feedback as published in their press release on 13 November 2014 titled “Palm Oil Giant GAR Needs to Step Up Efforts on Social, Environmental Commitments”.

We take this feedback from Greenpeace seriously and would like to reiterate our commitment to our Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) and Social and Community Engagement Policy (SCEP) launched in February 2011 and November 2011 respectively. Our policies and their robust and ongoing implementation will ensure that GAR has a no deforestation footprint.

With regard to the complaint by Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and the report by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), both of whom were referenced in the Greenpeace statement, GAR would like to reiterate that we have conducted investigations and are taking action to address the issues raised.

We have articulated this in the following statements:

Furthermore, GAR’s FCP and SCEP apply to all the plantations that GAR owns, manages or invests in regardless of the stake. As such, we take the feedback on Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) seriously and will work with GVL to ensure the robust implementation of the FCP and SCEP. GVL’s reiteration of its commitments is stated in their response.

GAR is working closely with TFT to address the issues raised by FPP, RAN and Greenpeace. Timely reports of the progress of our follow-up actions on these issues will be provided through the GAR Sustainability Dashboard. We will continue to engage with Greenpeace and other stakeholders and believe that continued multi-stakeholder collaboration is the best way to achieve solutions for sustainable palm oil production and ensure long-term sustainable growth of the palm oil industry.

For further information, please contact:
Claire Yong / Jayne Teo
Tel: (65) 6333 3449
Mobile: (65) 9185 0761 / (65) 8139 9572
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]