Widespread fires in Brazilian tropical forests were at the center of media attention in 2019. NGOs, politicians and celebrities called for action to stop deforestation for soy and livestock, the main cause of the fires. Indonesia also endured extensive blazes in 2019, often linked to deforestation for palm oil. Forests in Brazil and Indonesia capture …
Mizuho has adopted stricter forest policy financing standards, paving the way for stronger ESG actions in the Japanese banking sector. Mizuho is now the standard by which to evaluate the policies of other Japanese megabanks, which is prompting a shake-up in the industry. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has already followed Mizuho’s lead in strengthening …
Just before last week’s release of Chain Reaction Research’s (CRR) report on NDPE and palm oil refiners, the large refiner Permata Hijau Group published a list of its suppliers and opened a grievance system. CRR has updated its report accordingly. As a result of this change, effective NDPE coverage by palm oil refiners increased from …
This Chain is part of a series on how COVID-19 is affecting agricultural markets and investor flows. The global biodiesel market has taken major hits from weaker demand, a sharp drop in crude oil prices, and growing palm oil oversupply. The decline in transportation demand as the novel coronavirus has forced global travel to pause …
Palm oil refiners are a strategic bottleneck in the global supply chain. Since 2014, the largest refiners have adopted No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policies, the strongest private instrument to cut the direct link between deforestation and palm oil. Refiners commit to NDPE policies that cover their plantations and the plantations of their …
This Chain is the first in a series on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting agricultural markets and investor flows. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the vulnerability of health care systems, markets, and global supply chains. The IMF has predicted the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres considers it …
Download the Bahasa translated version here. Malaysian palm oil company Tabung Haji (TH) Plantations has submitted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the development of 8,094 hectares (ha) of an oil palm plantation in Mukim Tembeling (Jerantut District, state of Pahang, Malaysia). The landowner, Deru Semangat Sdn Bhd, is 55 percent owned by Tabung Haji. …
Major agricultural commodity-producing countries are seeing environmental enforcement rollbacks amid the coronavirus pandemic. In Brazil and Southeast Asia, concerns about worker safety and limited resources have reduced environmental law enforcement, including the protection of forests and indigenous peoples. These developments increase exposure to deforestation risks for agricultural companies and their investors. In Brazil, the country’s …
Editor’s note: We hope that you are healthy and productive as we all grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty of what is ahead. The CRR team is hard at work to continue bringing you independent sustainability risk analysis. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be working to provide insightful analysis while also …
Recent pressure from investors and NGOs have facilitated downstream actors to either adopt new zero-deforestation commitments or enhance existing pledges. This year is key for major consumer-facing companies as many have targeted 2020 to completely eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. But the industry as a whole has fallen short of this goal, with some …
