Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The palm oil in your shampoo

Fatah Sadaoui, SumOfUs.org Unsubscribe 8:27 AM (1 hour ago) to me

BREAKING: Procter & Gamble’s villainous palm oil partner, FGV, has been sanctioned over multiple human rights violations, including trafficking and forced labour.


It’s the evidence we need to force big brands to get rid of conflict palm oil once and for all!

Tell Procter & Gamble and other big companies: clean conflict palm oil out of your supply chain--NOW!

SIGN THE PETITION

Peter,

This is huge. FGV or “Felda” has been found guilty of human trafficking and forced labour on its plantations. 160,000 SumOfUs members like you helped expose FGV, Malaysia’s biggest palm oil producer, in 2015 -- and these sanctions are proof that the industry is finally listening to us.

Big brands like Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Mars brag about their sustainable palm oil policies, while continuing to profit from FGV’s forced labour. Now they have no excuse not to force FGV to change, but unless they feel the pressure to act, they could try to weather the storm.

Both Unilever and Hershey’s have dropped FGV, and now we need your help to create a domino effect and put FGV against the wall -- to force it to change its exploitative ways. Can you sign the petition to demand that Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Mondelez, and PepsiCo end human rights abuse in their palm oil supply chains?

Tell Procter & Gamble & big brands to stop doing business with FGV until workers’ rights are respected on palm oil plantations.

To produce the oil it sells to P&G, Nestlé, Mondelez, and Pepsico, FGV is reliant on migrant workers recruited by mercenary human traffickers. These “contractors” withhold workers’ passports, overcharge them for food and necessities, and refuse to let them leave plantations without written permission.

That oil, harvested by migrant workers forced to endure dire living conditions, goes into Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Herbal Essences shampoo, and other products we use every day.

In response to the RSPO sanctions, FGV announced it would overhaul its recruitment policy -- but until it can prove its workers are being treated humanely, paid fair wages, and not subjected to modern day slavery conditions, Procter & Gamble and big brands must use their leverage and put pressure on FGV to force to change its ways for good.

If not, they’re sending the message that these companies value profits over basic human rights. And that’s a message any public-facing corporation can’t afford to send now.

Tell P&G, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Mars and other brands to honour their sustainability commitments and force FGV into real action!

The past couple of months have seen some huge victories by SumOfUs members against unethical and inhumane palm oil actors. Over 240,000 of you helped push the RSPO to sanction Pepsi’s business partner Indofood over its labour abuses.

Our pressure is transforming the palm oil industry -- and if we can keep this momentum going, there’s no telling how much more we can accomplish together.

SIGN THE PETITION

Thanks for all that you do,

Fatah, Rebecca, and the team at SumOfUs

More information:

RSPO suspends FGV palm oil mill and four plantations over labour rights abuses, Food Navigator, 30 November 2018

A palm oil giant has been sanctioned over forced labor and trafficking workers, Quartz, 29 November 2018

Nestle, Hershey's, P&G among brands slammed for forced labor in palm oil supply chain, Supply Chain Dive, 4 December 2018

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