Greenpeace Blocks IOI’s Palm Oil Refinery at Port of Rotterdam

by Ilari Kauppila (Biofuels International) Activists from Greenpeace blocked entry to a palm oil refinery at the Port of Rotterdam for seven hours on Tuesday due to claims of the plant being linked to Indonesian environmental concerns.

A report by the environmental group links IOI, the owner of the Croklaan palm oil refinery, to deforestation, wildfires, and human rights violations including using child labour in Indonesia.

The ten activists blocked the refinery’s entrance with tree trunks and stopped docking at the port with kayaks and the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, which prevented unloading palm oil destined for the facility.

After several hours, the police moved in and forcibly removed the activists who had chained themselves to the logs and the facility fence and arrested 13 people, The Guardian reports.

"We are not anti-palm oil, but we know its production can and must be sustainable. It is entirely possible to grow the palm oil industry without clearing or burning more forest," she (Annisa Rahmawati, forest campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia) continued.

IOI said in a statement on Tuesday that it “acknowledges” the report from Greenpeace and “shares a similar top line analysis” of the industry challenges related to ensuring compliance by third party suppliers.

“It is clear that despite the many achievements of several companies’ ‘No Deforestation, No Planting on Peat and No Exploitation’ policies, industry-wide collaboration is critically needed,” IOI CEO Dato’ Lee Yeow Chor wrote in the statement.

“IOI fully accepts its own responsibilities as a producer and trader of palm oil. In this respect, IOI accepts Greenpeace’s challenge to use its voice and influence to help achieve the outcomes both IOI and Greenpeace desire.” READ MORE