350 Wenatchee Climate Conversations NCW

You see, on the one side there’s an agribusiness giant called Royal Golden Eagle – notorious for human rights abuses. Then you’ve got Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), a pulp and paper company affiliated with Royal Golden Eagle, that’s expanding into the Indigenous lands of the Pargamanan-Bintang Maria community in North Sumatra, Indonesia. And that’s where Procter & Gamble, the brand behind Pantene and Head and Shoulders, comes into play: for buying palm oil from Royal Golden Eagle.

In other words: Procter & Gamble is complicit in the land grab happening in North Sumatra just by sourcing palm oil from the wrong supplier.

This week, we’re meeting with execs at Procter & Gamble to talk about the human rights abuses and land theft happening through their supply chain partner Royal Golden Eagle. Our goal is to deliver 20,000 messages to these execs in person asap. Jeanne, will you help us reach our goal and make sure that P&G execs listen up?

This might look like a far-away problem of a small group of people — but in fact it fits into a bigger picture: Insatiable, extraction-driven corporations grabbing for the planet’s last resources for short term corporate profits at the expense of communities, wildlife, forests and our climate.

It’s time for Procter & Gamble to wash away their dirty connections with Royal Golden Eagle. Let them know that you demand an end to rainforest destruction in your shampoo and facial moisturizers!

From big agribusinesses stealing Indigenous lands for plantations like here in North Sumatra, to the oil and tar sands that the fossil fuel industry can’t seem to stop sucking out of and transporting across Native American tribal lands, these communities on the frontlines have one thing in common: They’re fighting for their birthright, which is the right to their lands. And by doing so, they’re also battling two biggest crises of our time: biodiversity loss and climate change – because Indigenous Peoples are the best stewards of the land and its irreplaceable nature.

That’s why the Pargamanan-Bintang Maria community’s fight matters and why time’s up for companies like Procter & Gamble, hiding behind murky supply chains and complicated corporate structures. If we want to eliminate Conflict Palm Oil, and the rainforest destruction and human rights abuses it causes, we have to move the big brands behind the demand for it. If companies like Procter & Gamble stop doing business with bad actors like Royal Golden Eagle, we can move entire sectors and make sure we Keep Forests Standing.

For all the communities who are stewarding our precious planet,

Maggie Martin
Senior Forest Campaigner
Rainforest Action Network