Palm oil and pulp companies with most burned land go unpunished as Indonesian forest fires rage
Despite the ongoing Indonesian forest fire crisis, no serious civil or administrative sanctions have been given to the ten palm oil companies with the largest areas of burned land from 2015 to 2018, new Greenpeace Indonesia mapping analysis revealed. Furthermore, the Indonesian government has not revoked a single palm oil licence due to forest fires.Greenpeace, 24 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Bolivia Is Burning. Who Will Stop Its Fires?
Bolivia’s fires are the bitter fruit of policies designed to benefit agribusiness. Mr. Morales has promoted the expansion of cattle ranching and biofuels in Santa Cruz since 2010. In April this year, Mr. Morales signed an agreement to increase beef exports to China, which have — like Brazil’s — been growing in value and volume. Then in July, a decree legalized slash-and-burn fires to turn forests into pasture. Bolivians called Mr. Morales a “murderer of nature.”NY Times, 24 September 2019
Bolivia, Beef, forest fire
Haze: Stop pointing fingers at oil palm companies, says Teresa Kok
Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok is urging the public to stop blaming oil palm plantation companies for the annual transboundary haze problem.The Rakyat Post, 24 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Brazil’s president attacks Amazon rainforest ‘lies’ and thanks Trump for support
Jair Bolsonaro told the U.N. that the Amazon “remains pristine and virtually untouched.”CNBC, 24 September 2019
Brazil, Beef, forest fire
Prompted by Amazon fires, 230 investors warn firms linked to deforestation
Prompted by the Amazon fires in Brazil and Bolivia, 230 global investors with $16.2 trillion in assets have issued a strongly worded statement warning hundreds of unnamed companies to either meet their commodities supply chain deforestation commitments or risk economic consequences. Elsewhere, consumer pressure has led the VF Corporation, a US apparel and footwear firm which owns Timberland and The North Face brands, to announce it has stopped buying Brazilian leather. It remains to be seen whether a global Brazilian boycott linked to deforestation will develop.Mongabay, 23 September 2019
Brazil, Beef, forest fire
Jakarta plans soil tests to spot plantation firms causing haze
Indonesia plans to conduct soil tests to identify plantation companies suspected to have cultivated oil palm, pulp wood or other crops on land after using slash-and-burn techniques to clear it.The Straits Times, 23 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Burger King UK denies its burgers are 'flame grilling' the Amazon following Greenpeace stunt
Around the world, environmental activists are often targeted for speaking out. Where does the courage to keep going come from? For some, it’s the idea that we don’t really own this earth; we take care of it for the next generation.PR Week , 23 September 2019
Brazil, United Kingdom, Beef, forest fire
Five companies, one individual named suspects in fires
Five companies and one individual have been identified as suspects in the forest and land fires in 2019, Forestry and Environment Ministry (KLHK) has discovered.Antara News, 23 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Harsher penalties await Indonesian forest burners
Indonesian authorities are studying a plan to mete out harsher penalties to companies found burning forest and peat land, an environment ministry official said, as the country faces its worst forest fires and haze problems since 2015.Free Malaysia Today, 23 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Indonesia government considering harsher punishments for forest burners
Indonesian authorities are studying a plan to mete out harsher penalties to companies found burning forest and peat land, an environment ministry official said, as the country faces its worst forest fires and haze problems since 2015.Reuters, 23 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
We Meet the People Burning Down Indonesia’s Forests
Hundreds of individuals directly contribute to the fires engulfing Indonesia’s forests, causing the haze that has enveloped parts of Southeast Asia. But why isn’t the government going after the corporations that hired them?Vice , 23 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Palm oil-linked wildfires in Indonesia have ravaged 800,000 acres
Forest fires which have ravaged Indonesia since July have blanketed the area in a thick, poisonous smoke cloud that has sickened individuals and endangered wildlife, amid accusations from neighbouring Malaysia that Indonesia’s authorities is just not doing sufficient to manage the man-made wildfires.Danil Fineman, 22 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
What The European Parliament Must Do To Halt The Destruction Of The Amazon – OpEd
And now more than ever, the world looks to the EU to take global leadership, as its citizens are faced with a climate-change denying President in the US; a Brazilian President letting the Amazon slip away through his powerful fingers; and political paralysis in the UK.Eurasia Review, 22 September 2019
Europe, , forest fire
Amazon in flames: 110 football fields of land cleared every hour
The fires, which are mostly caused by human with the goal of clearing land for farming and cattle ranching, are having grievous effect on the forest: the rate of deforestation in the Amazon has nearly doubled since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro came to power on January 1, with the equivalent of 110 football fields of land being cleared every hour.South China Morning Post, 22 September 2019
Brazil, Beef, forest fire
Investment funds move to protect Brazil forests
A group of over 200 investment funds urged businesses to take an active role in halting the destruction of the Amazon and warned that companies whose supply chains benefit from deforestation could face financial risks.Post Guam, 22 September 2019
Brazil, Beef, forest fire
The Amazon Is Still on Fire. Conservation Groups Blame Illegal Logging and Criminal Networks
Alencar co-authored a report released by IPAM last week that found deforestation – and not drought – is the primary driver behind the record fires this year. Human Rights Watch also released a report Tuesday pointing to "rainforest mafias" for causing the deforestation, fires and the deaths of the land's defenders – predominantly indigenous peoples.Amazon Watch, 22 September 2019
Brazil, Beef, forest fire
Indigenous leaders call attention to disastrous forest fires
Fires have destroyed millions of acres of rainforest in the Amazon and in portions of Indonesia in recent months. This week, an international coalition of indigenous leaders met in New York during the United Nations climate summit to call attention to the destruction of their land, confront climate change and ask for increased protections for the environment. Megan Thompson reports.PBS, 21 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
'No Planet B': Millions take to streets in global climate strike
"The [Brazilian] federal government wants to turn the Amazon in an area for exploitation, to put cattle and soy over the forest," said university student Fabiana Amorim.Aljazeera, 21 September 2019
Brazil, , forest fire
Indonesia blasts its own planters for forest fires as hotspots soar to 5,086
With no relief in sight from a noxious layer of smoke and ash that’s engulfed parts of Southeast Asia, Indonesia accused the nation’s timber and plantation industries of failing to prevent the emergence of wildfires.New Straits Times, 20 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Experts Blame Poor Law Enforcement, Dismal Funds for Indonesia Forest Fires
Poor law enforcement, corruption and scant government funding contributed to recurrent agricultural fires that have ravaged large swathes of forest in Indonesia and engulfed parts of the country and its neighbors with noxious smoke and ash, experts said Friday.Benar News, 20 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Land Destroyed by Forest Fires Marked for Plantations: Disaster Mitigation Agency
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said eighty percent of the land destroyed by forest fires in Indonesia this year will be converted into plantations, pointing the blame for the fires to unsustainable practices in the country's agriculture industry.Jakarta Globe, 20 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Wildfires in Indonesia have ravaged 800,000 acres. Palm oil farmers are mostly to blame.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who this week visited one of the now-barren forest sites, said Tuesday he’d sent 5,600 more personnel to assist in controlling the fires, along with 52 aircraft to dump water on the affected areas.Washington Post, 19 September 2019
Indonesia, Palm Oil, forest fire
Palm oil body investigating fires on Malaysian-owned estates, says report
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is investigating some of the fires that started on plantation lands in Indonesia of companies that have been certified by the body, Malaysiakini reports.The Malaysian Insight , 19 September 2019
Malaysia, Palm Oil, forest fire
5 reasons McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC must speak up about the Amazon fires
The Amazon rainforest is on fire. But what does this have to do with McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King? Here are the top five reasons why these fast food giants must take a stand against Amazon destructionGreenpeace, 17 September 2019
Brazil, Beef, forest fire
Is the EU's import of Brazilian beef and soy contaminated with illegal deforestation?
A new study by Britaldo Silveira Soares Filho reveals the interlinkages between illegal deforestation, meat production and forest fires for land clearing after 2008.Center for Development Research University of Bonn, 15 September 2019
Brazil, Europe, Beef, deforestation, forest fire