Finally … some good news! Today, Nestle, the world’s
biggest food and drinks company, announced that it will cease using
products
that drive the tropical rainforest destruction.

This is great news for our environment in what has otherwise
been a bleak few weeks. President Obama continues to dig
in (or drill in) and stand firm behind
his plans to increase offshore oil drilling despite the BP Deepwater oil disaster and continues
to work to lift
the ban on commercial whaling.

In the midst of it all, Nestle’s recent act is a refreshing
act of leadership.

Here is why this matters: 17 percent of global-warming
pollution comes from deforestation. Brazil and Indonesia are among the
four
most polluting countries (with China and the U.S.) because cutting trees
releases carbon pollution.

To address the main driver of deforestation in Brazil —
cattle ranching — Greenpeace worked with Nike,
Wal-Mart, Timberland,
and other companies to pressure their suppliers to stop grazing cattle
on
recently deforested land.

In Indonesia, palm oil and pulp plantations are both driving
deforestation and pushing orangutans to the brink of extinction. After
being
caught red-handed, Nestle has committed to identify and exclude
companies from its supply chain that own or manage “high-risk
plantations or
farms linked to deforestation.” This exclusion would apply to companies
such as
Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s most notorious palm-oil and pulp-and-paper
supplier, if
it fails to meet the criteria set out in the policy. It also has
implications
for palm oil traders, such as Cargill, which continue to buy from Sinar
Mas.