Special Edition Realtime Deforestation Monitoring Report (RDM 11): Colombia palm oil

This special RDM report released in April 2023 presents six Colombian palm oil company case studies that were part of a broader study to unravel the Colombian palm oil supply chain, and its linkages to the European market, in collaboration with IUCN NL. Most cases are in the Colombian Amazon biome and cover deforestation between 2011 and 2021, and fires occurring in 2021 and 2022.   

The company’s palm oil mills in the case studies are linked to commodity traders and FMCG companies that source and use Colombian palm oil for food products and cosmetics, including AAK, ADM, Cargill, Colgate, Bunge, Danone, Ferrero, Fuji Oils, Friesland Campina, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Hershey, Kellogg’s, L’Oréal, PepsiCo, Mars, Mondelez, Nestle, Unilever, and others. 

The RDM reports aim to:

  • Raise awareness on recent deforestation and fire events linked to global commodities’ supply chains
  • Engage commodity producers and traders on real-time deforestation events, and urge them to respond — especially those with commitments to halt deforestation in their supply chains
  • Support stakeholders in the financial sector and civil society with granular data needed in their due diligence and engagement with companies
  • Increase transparency in commodity sectors, particularly on companies’ no-deforestation commitments and how this is implemented on the ground.

RDM reports are developed to support a wide range of actors – commodity producers and traders, financial sector stakeholders, and civil society – in taking evidence-based action towards real-time deforestation events. AidEnvironment publishes RDM reports monthly with support from EU LIFE Program and the European Climate Foundation.  

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Sarah Drost
Senior Researcher Deforestation-free supply chains