Body Shop makes palm oil pledge

Ethical cosmetics retailer The Body Shop has won praise from conservation group WWF for its progressive stance on palm oil sourcing. The influential high street chain has pledged to source its palm oil from a sustainable plantation in Columbia, clearly distancing itself from the often destructive industry. It is hoped that The Body Shop’s move will encourage other retailers to take similar steps.

As part of the WWF’s global Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), The Body Shop has been involved in addressing the palm oil problem for a number of years.

Along with cosmetics, palm oil is found in numerous household products and its widespread unethical sourcing has had a devastating effect on the environment, endangered species and indigenous populations around the world. WWF research has found that under current rates of deforestation, some 1.3m hectares of forest will be cleared this year in Borneo alone, further reducing habitats of already endangered species such as the orang-utan.

“The Body Shop is the first global cosmetics company to introduce sustainable palm oil into its product lines,” said Matthias Diemer, palm oil expert at WWF Switzerland. “This is the start of the growth of sustainable palm oil in the cosmetics sector and we hope that many more companies will follow suit. We also applaud the pioneering role The Body Shop has taken in helping to formulate strong standards for sustainable palm oil production through the RSPO.”