South Korea’s largest trading company, Posco International, has released a zero-deforestation policy and pledged to compensate for areas of forest in Indonesia’s Papua region that it is responsible for clearing. The company has 34,000 hectares of palm oil plantations in Papua and has been called out for destroying nearly 15,000 hectares of primary forest. On top of its commitment, Posco International will also require third-party suppliers to observe its ‘No Deforestation, No Peatland, No Exploitation (NDPE)’ policy. Under its new palm oil policy, it will not develop plantations on peatlands and areas with high conservation value (HCV) and high carbon stock. By the fourth quarter of this year, it will develop forest restoration or conservation plans for areas outside its current concession areas, to make up for deforestation before October 2017. Other palm oil businesses have made similar restoration pledges, including multinational investment company Gama, food corporation Cargill, and Indonesian oil palm company Eagle High.

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