A wave of companies has committed to sourcing responsibly produced palm oil; yet, problems still persist in their supply chains.

The rapid clearing and burning of forests and carbon-rich peat lands to make way for palm plantations has led to rampant deforestation, forced labor, biodiversity loss, massive health problems, and land rights violations. These issues also pose major regulatory and reputational risks for companies that threaten their market access and overall brand value.

Dear Prime Minister Prayut:

On this International Human Rights Day, we, the undersigned, write to you concerning the conviction of Andy Hall for criminal defamation and violations of the Computer Crime Act. Hall’s conviction was in relation to research he undertook by interviewing migrant workers and sending raw interview data to Finnwatch, which then analyzed the information and published it in the Finnwatch report Cheap Has a High Price. Finnwatch wrote and published the report online in January 2013 in Helsinki, Finland.

International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), Rainforest Action Network (RAN), and Indonesian labor rights advocacy organization OPPUK lodged a formal complaint against palm oil giant Indofood with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry’s largest certification scheme. Indofood is the largest private palm oil plantation company in Indonesia, and has yet to adopt a commitment to using only responsibly produced palm oil. The company is a major joint venture partner of global snack food brand PepsiCo.

The widespread failure to exercise proper control over the operations of fishing vessels together with a demand for cheap seafood has led to a failure both to protect marine biodiversity and to protect human rights. As managers have failed to limit the number of vessels and gear deployed at sea, and technology improvements have allowed vessels to spend longer times at sea at greater distances from the shore, fish stocks have declined.