Sinar Mas faces backlash from false claims made in response to environmental campaign against deforestation.

Sinar Mas, an Indonesian conglomerate whose holdings include Asia Pulp and Paper, a paper products brand, and PT Smart, a palm oil producer, was sharply rebuked Wednesday over a recent report where it claimed not to have engaged in destruction of forests and peatlands. At least one of its companies, Golden Agri Resources, may now face an investigation for deliberately misleading shareholders in its corporate filings.

In the report, released last week, Sinar Mas claimed auditors had cleared its subsidiaries of any wrongdoing under Indonesian law and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a certification standard for palm oil productions. It accused Greenpeace, an environmental group whose campaigns against PT Smart have led major buyers to drop it as a palm oil supplier, of exaggerating its case against the company's palm oil.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0818-sinar_mas_fraud.html

From thegoodhuman.com

This week's Greenwash comes from my friend Keith over at The Unsuitablog, where the tagline is "Exposing Ethical Hypocrites Everywhere!". Keith and I have a similar viewpoint on greenwashing, and have taken it upon ourselves to spread awareness of it. Last week he dissected a press release from Avon, the cosmetics giant, to expose their greenwashing attempt.

http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2010/08/04/greenwash-of-the-week-avons-palm-oil-and-a-rainforest-charity/

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo is studying a proposal to provide land to China to grow large amounts of palm for
oil production in the vast central African country, a government minister told Reuters on Thursday.

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE66F01920100716

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
June 06, 2010

The government of Indonesia has named four forests which could serve as pilot projects for its conservation deal with Norway, according to the Jakarta Post. The deal, including a billion US dollar donation from Norway, is meant to help Indonesia stem rampant deforestation throughout the nation, which has pushed Indonesia to become the world's third highest greenhouse gas emitter.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0606-hance_pilot_forests.html

mongabay.com
June 03, 2010

Indonesia's chief economic minister said on Wednesday that the government will not revoke existing forestry licenses to develop natural forests under a billion dollar conservation deal signed last week with Norway.

"We want to keep to our targets of 40 million tons of crude palm oil," Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa told Reuters. "We will not take away the existing licenses."

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0603-indonesia_moratorium_confusion.html

In a remarkable victory for two nonprofits, the caring consumer and endangered orangutans, Nestle announced recently that it will no longer buy palm oil from companies that contribute to the destruction of rainforests. The nonprofit Forest Trust confirmed that it will work with Nestle to help the corporation rid its products of unsustainably-produced palm oil, paper and lumber products by vetting and monitoring the corporate giant's supply chain of vendors. The agreement comes after a gruesome but effective public education campaign by Greenpeace caused public outcry and pressure on Nestle.

http://theideahive.com/2010/06/good-copbad-cop-ngos-ride-herd-and-keep-corporations-honest/