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We’ve got the proof: they’re killing orangutans
Rob Wohl, SumOfUs
We think we've just caught one of Kellogg's key suppliers lying about the greatest corporation-backed environmental destruction out there -- the illegal destruction of the rainforest home of the world's last orangutans -- and we urgently need to document and publicize this abuse while we still can.
What we've seen so far shows that one of Kellogg's top business partners is working with plantations that are hacking down protected rainforests, illegally grabbing land, and destroying the orangutan’s home in Indonesia -- all to supply companies like Kellogg's with palm oil. This company has been covering Kellogg's by insisting it was doing nothing wrong -- and now, we've caught them lying.
If we all chip in now, we can graphically document this destruction on the ground before the company covers its tracks -- and get the story out to the world's press and pile on the pressure for Kellogg's to act. But if we can't raise the money, then it's likely that Kellogg's will get away with its destruction once again, trumpeting its toothless sustainability pledges while orangutans die.
The palm oil industry is a disaster for people and the planet. Deforestation in Southeast Asia is pushing the Orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, and countless other endangered species to the brink of extinction. Indigenous communities have their land stolen and their livelihoods destroyed by palm oil plantations. Meanwhile, the remaining forests of Indonesia are storing as much carbon dioxide as the entire earth emits in a year, meaning that allowing the destruction to continue could detonate a carbon bomb.
But major palm oil consumers and traders alway find a way to insist they can’t be held responsible for the destruction. They say they’re following local laws and global compacts for sustainable palm oil, produce glossy reports about the good they’re doing, and refuse to get serious about reforming the industry. But now we have hard evidence that the system that’s supposed to protect the Southeast Asian rainforest is completely broken
If enough members of the SumOfUs community pitch in now, we can build on the initial evidence our partner groups have found and march it into corporate offices around the world, we can get it splashed across the media, we can launch a huge public awareness campaign to tell consumers the truth about palm oil -- and keep digging and campaigning until we stop this illegal trade.
Kellogg's is already feeling the pressure -- and that's why we can't let this crucial first evidence go to waste. Organizers in Kellogg's home state of Michigan, supported in part by SumOfUs members, have been generating headlines almost weekly as they intensify the local pressure on Kellogg's to act. And after over 150,000 of us called on Kellogg's to clean up its supply chain, it knows that the international pressure is building.
We know that another palm oil industry is possible. Golden Agri-Resources, the world’s largest palm oil producer, and global food giant Nestle have recently taken pledges to transition to deforestation-free policies. Similar agreements have dramatically slowed deforestation in the Amazon and they could save Southeast Asian forests.
The SumOfUs community has done amazing work in the last two years. Our crowdfunded campaigns have allowed beekeepers to fight back against the propaganda of pesticide companies who are killing off millions of bees, supported Bangladeshi labor organizers who are investigating the apparel companies responsible for the terrible factory collapse last April, and supported last month’s amazing fast food workers strike. Taking on the palm oil industry could be one of our biggest challenges yet, but we if we all pitch in, we know we can do it.
Can we count on you to help with just $1 to expose the palm oil industry's destructive law breaking?
We've think we've caught one of Kellogg's key suppliers lying about its destruction of Southeast Asia's rainforests to cover for Kellogg's. The research is rough, and before the company covers its tracks we need to urgently fund work to document the destruction and take the story to the media. If you can chip in just $1 today, you can help to expose the companies responsible for destroying the home of the world's last orangutans. |
Thanks so much for all you do,
Rob, Paul, and the team at SumOfUs.org