Nature Alert: Neste Oil only uses palm oil that has been produced responsibly

Wednesday, 8 April 2009

Neste Oil only uses palm oil that has been produced responsibly

April 03, 2009: 11:11 AM ET

Neste Oil is fully committed to using only palm oil that has been produced responsibly, and has a set of tough sustainability principles in place covering its procurement of bio-based raw materials. Thanks to the development of a system that enables it to trace the origin of all the palm oil that it uses, it knows exactly where and how its palm oil has been produced. Neste Oil has also committed itself to only using palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as it becomes available in sufficient volumes.

Neste Oil is actively supporting work in the areas of legislation and certification designed to prevent the irresponsible production of palm oil. The company has committed itself to an alliance calling for a ban on the felling of rainforest and is playing an active role in the RSPO, and was the first oil company to join the organization.

"Our approach is very much to only use raw materials that are produced in line with the principles of sustainable development. We oppose the destruction of rainforest and anything that undermines human rights or natural biodiversity," said President & CEO Matti Lievonen, speaking at Neste Oil's Annual General Meeting in Helsinki today.

"Neste Oil is working with over 20 research communities in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australia to develop and introduce new raw materials. We increased our R&D budget last year by a third, to EUR 37 million, and are devoting the bulk of our research efforts today to researching and identifying new types of renewable raw materials."

Neste Oil Corporation

Hanna Maula

Communications Manager

Further information: Mr. Simo Honkanen, Senior Vice President, Sustainability and HSSE, tel. +358 50 458 4170

Neste Oil in brief

Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission, high-quality traffic fuels. The company's strategy is based on growing both its oil refining and premium-quality renewable diesel businesses. Neste Oil's refineries are located in Porvoo and Naantali and have a combined crude oil refining capacity of approx. 260,000 barrels a day. The company had net sales of EUR 15 billion in 2008 and employs around 5,200 people. Neste Oil's share is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. www.nesteoil.com.

This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.