In the interests of transparency …

by Tim Wilson, November 9, 2009

Sustainable Development is a new blog to promote economic, social and environmental sustainable development policy solutions and commentary. Last week we received an email from Tony Gilding who is involved in the Palm Oil Action Group, and he raised a series of questions regarding Palming off livelihoods?, Sustainable Development’s recent report on the misguided campaign against palm oil. So we thought we would answer them for everyone to read in the interests of transparency.

Question 1 | Your statement “Critics have gone so far as to demand that its use be boycotted or banned, with limitations placed upon its advertising and marketing”. Can you please advise what evidence for this statement “Critics…..demand that its use be boycotted or banned”?, Answer: Having read hundreds of pages of material to write this report I can assure you plenty of material exists, and where appropriate is referenced in Palming off livelihoods?. If you doubt that some anti-palm oil activists have advocated for bans or boycotts, I would encourage you to type the following terms in Google and see if there is a response: “palm oil” and ban or “palm oil” and boycott. I assure you, there is plenty of material.

Question 2 | You mention the organisations Greenpeace, Friends of Earth, Melbourne Zoo and Palm Oil Action Group. Are you aware that any of these organisations advocate boycots or bans? Can you please direct me to that material?, Answer: The report makes it clear that there are a number of groups who have campaigned against palm oil. Where those groups have specifically made a claim and I have attributed it specifically to them, a reference has been provided. The only mention I make of boycotts or bans are in general sense, except in one case where I quote that a Facebook group has been established to “Boycott Cadbury”. The link is here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=92132093673&v=info&ref=search.

Question 3 | Also you mention with “limitations placed upon its advertising and marketing”. Are you referring to the FOE complaint to Advertising Standards authority in 2007 ?, Answer: Yes, that is one example.

Question 4 | Are you funded by the palm oil industry? No. We are committed to  free markets approach to economic development irrespective of any funding source for our activities.

(Eds note: This post was unintentionally deleted and we have replaced as best we can to the original post. Our apologies.)

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