Palm oil supplier probed over forest clearance claims

Finnish oil marketing and refining company Neste Oil is demanding an investigation into palm oil supplier IOI Group over allegations the Malaysian firm illegally cleared forests and encroached protected peat lands in Borneo.

It follows a report by Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth, which claims IOI is responsible for illegal deforestation, invading protected peat lands and land-grabbing at the expense of local rice farmers in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. IOI criticised the robustness of the research and said no land conflicts have occurred.

In a statement, Neste said it “always takes seriously claims against its own operations or those in its supply chain”, adding that it had asked IOI to give a review on the claims, which it expected to receive shortly.

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