Sharjah24 – Reuters: Of the seven commodities sectors driving deforestation, palm oil companies are doing the most to alleviate their environmental impact following years of public pressure, a study by a global environmental disclosure group shows.
The CDP study, which will be released on Monday, is likely to ramp up pressure on commodity companies to go green given the progress in palm oil, which is widely blamed by environmentalists for much of the destruction of tropical rainforests.
Based on responses from more than 550 leading companies in the agri-commodities sector, the study found nearly all who use or produce palm oil are taking at least one industry accepted measure to address deforestation, such as having sufficiently ambitious traceability targets.
Companies involved with rubber, by contrast, are doing the least, while the coffee and cattle products sector also perform poorly, the study found.
"Palm oil has been the subject of public campaigns in recent years. Companies see palm oil as a reputational risk," it noted.
CDP measures the environmental risk and impact of more than 10,000 companies, cities, states and regions on behalf of leading global investors.
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