Consumer products giant Unilever announced recently it is suspending future purchases from Indonesian palm oil supplier PT Smart after a new report from Greenpeace alleges that the supplier is clear-cutting forests illegally.
Officials at Unilever, reportedly the world's largest user of palm oil and a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, said the Greenpeace report showed the supplier had cut forests without permits, failed to protect areas of high biodiversity and drained environmentally-valuable peat lands. According to Reuters, Unilever uses palm oil in such products as Dove soap, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and margarine.
