In recent years, the world’s biggest companies have woken up to the environmental costs associated with palm oil and the other commodities they buy. Nowhere are those costs more evident than in Indonesia...

Many consumer goods companies, along with the commodity traders that supply them, have committed to remove deforestation from their supply chains. These commitments are promising, but forest destruction is actually increasing in Indonesia...Greenpeace analysis indicates that the palm oil industry is a leading cause of deforestation and peatland destruction.4 The situation is made worse by deep-seated, systemic problems, including legal barriers and the absence of published concession maps that show who controls forested land...

This all presents a serious challenge to companies that source commodities from Indonesia. They have promised their customers and other stakeholders that they will ensure the palm oil they buy is not linked to deforestation. Yet our analysis shows that companies have yet to take control of their supply chains and are unable to say with any confidence that the palm oil they use is not driving the destruction of rainforests, threatening endangered species or contributing to social conflicts in Indonesia...