Governments are Acting to Curb the Fires in the Amazon

Governments are responding to the planetary threat posed by the fires in the Amazon. There has been a 79 percent increase in fires in 2019 compared to the same period last year. These fires are a threat to air, water, and wildlife. The Amazon generates one fifth of the world's oxygen and it is the single largest reservoir of fresh water and biodiversity on Earth. The Amazon also regulates climate including heat and precipitation. The ongoing degradation of this region could trigger tipping points from which we will not be able to recover.

The Earth's Lungs are Burning and Bolsanaro is to Blame

Wildfires have raged all around the world in 2019 but nowhere is the situation more serious than in the record breaking Amazon fires. There have been almost 80,000 fires in the Amazon this year, more than 30,000 in recent weeks and almost 10,000 since the middle of August. Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, or INPET reports that there have been 74,155 fires in the Amazon in 2019. The massive plumes of smoke from these fires stretch for 1.2 million square miles, cutting across the entire continent of South America and extending out into the South Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon is composed of 2.12 square miles of rainforest that spans Columbia and Peru as well as other countries. However, the majority of the Amazon is located in Brazil.

Victory for Responsible Palm Oil Plantations

A multi-year campaign from organizations like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and the Forest Trust has managed to arrest deforestation and human rights abuses from palm oil plantations. One of the last big company holdouts has finally agreed to purchase palm only exclusively from responsible sources. The Singapore based company known as Musim Mas made the announcement last week. This is significant because Musim Mas it is responsible for 18 percent of the world's palm oil.

In a press release Musim Mas announced its new sustainability policy, which, it said, “re-affirms its commitment to bring benefits to the community, respect the rights of smallholders to develop or conserve their land, while maintaining a strict guideline of No Deforestation, No Peatland Development and No Exploitation.”

Efforts in Support of Sustainable Palm Oil

Responsible sourcing of palm oil is a growing concern with consumers and by extension a growing number of corporations. Palm oil plantations are infamous for destroying both forests and peatlands. At the start of 2014 a survey of the state of responsible sourcing of palm oil showed just how bad things are. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) analysis revealed that twenty-four of the 30 leading companies they surveyed do not source palm oil responsibly.

In a report titled Donuts, Deodorant and Deforestation: Scoring America’s Top Brands on their Palm Oil Commitments, USC looked at the 10 biggest companies in the packaged food, fast food and personal care industries and found that the vast majority have inadequate commitments or lack commitments altogether.

Campaign Succeeds in Pressuring P&G into Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil

Procter and Gamble (P&G) has responded to public pressure and agreed to stop thier environmentally destructive palm oil sourcing practices. This is yet another story about how the dangers of irresponsible and unsustainable practices make a company vulnerable to public shaming campaigns that can prove very harmful to a firm's reputation. A total of 400,000 people emailed P&G to express their outrage at the company's harmful activities.

On April 8th, the Washington Post reported that P&G has agreed to purchase 100 percent of their palm oil products from sustainable sources by 2015 and 100 percent of their paper products from recycled or third-party certified sources by 2020. A P&G spokesman explained that the company is now committed to a new "No Deforestation policy" and it intends to provide full traceability for all the palm oil and derivatives it uses by the end of next year.

Video - The Slaughter of Orangutans for Palm Oil

This video chronicles the heartrending story of Orangutans who are being wiped out so that Procter & Gamble (P&G) can expand palm plantations in Indonesia. We cannot claim to be civilized let alone sustainable when we decimate the habitats of other species. It is unconscionable that we destroy the homes of orangutans, elephants and tigers among other species, just to grow palm trees used in shampoos and other household products. Even worse is the fact that orangutans are being murdered by workers in palm oil plantations.

Palm Oil's Environmental Impacts: Solutions to Deforestation and Methane Emissions

The palm oil industry is a major cause of deforestation, and new research indicates that palm oil processing is also a significant source of methane emissions. Despite these very serious issues there are solutions to both problems. Palm oil is a widely used edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp of the fruit of the oil palms.

The palm oil industry has earned a bad reputation for its destruction of forests and peatlands. Both of which contribute to climate change as the loss of forests and peatlands adversely impact biodiversity, generates carbon emissions and reduces global carbon sinks. Over the last few years years sustainability certification in the palm oil industry has been addressing some of these deforestation concerns.

Infographic - Forests and Land Use

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Study Shows Deforestation of Tropical Rainforest Decreases Precipitation

Deforestation can have many impacts including increases in un-sequestered carbon, and decreases in atmospheric oxygen, but according to new research loss of tropical rainforests can also significantly decrease rainfall. According to a new study titled, "Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests," the destruction of tropical forests could reduce rain across the Amazon basin by more than a fifth (21%) in the dry season by 2050.

Study Shows that Climate Change is Killing Forests

Climate change is causing a massive forest die-off on almost every continent on Earth. Forests are already under threat from illegal logging and land clearing for agriculture. According to a new paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, trees in forests all around the world are dying due to dry climatic conditions and elevated heat. This study corroborates the notion that global warming is increasing the risk of fires, disease and pest infestations like pine beetles. This die-off is undermining the wide range of ecological and economic benefits that forests provide.

The Business Case for REDD (Guide)

This complementary guide makes the Business Case for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). It reviews what REDD is and why you need to factor it into your sustainability strategy. The guide addresses how businesses and stakeholders can benefit from REDD's effect to the carbon market. It also reviews how to get involved in REDD investment and the regulations involved.