Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation

The document details the selection process and scoring criteria used to evaluate 30 companies' palm oil commitments. Companies were selected from the Forbes Global 2000 (2013) and QSR Magazine’s Global 30 (2012) lists. Scoring was based on public data available as of January 16, 2014, and evaluated across five categories: deforestation-free commitments, peat-free commitments, traceability, transparency, and early action. Each category is worth 20 points, with specific rubrics for awarding points based on the strength and specificity of company commitments and reporting.

• The study evaluated 30 companies across three sectors: packaged food, personal care, and fast food. For the first two, the top 10 companies known to use palm oil were selected from the Forbes Global 2000 list for 2013. For the fast food sector, the top 10 palm oil users were selected from QSR Magazine’s Global 30 list (2012), with KFC and Pizza Hut combined as they are both owned by Yum! Brands.
• Companies were scored on five criteria, each worth 20 points: Deforestation-Free, Peat-Free, Traceability, Transparency, and Early Action. Full points for 'Deforestation-Free' require a commitment to protect all forests, including "secondary, disturbed, or high carbon stock forests". Full points for 'Peat-Free' require a commitment to avoid new conversion of peatlands and ensure existing plantations use management practices at least as strong as those of the RSPO.
• The Traceability criterion (20 points) awards 15 points if a company commits to tracing palm oil to the plantation level and 5 points for asking suppliers about the GHG footprint of production. The Transparency criterion (20 points) awards 10 points for annual reporting of progress, including the percentage of palm oil meeting deforestation-free or peat-free criteria, 5 points for time-bound sourcing goals with intermediate targets, and 5 points for establishing a verification process.
• The 'Early Action' score is calculated using a weighted average of the company's current purchases of crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernel oil (PKO), and palm oil derivatives (POD). Deforestation- and peat-free oils receive full weight, physically sourced CSPO or sustainable oils receive a weight of 0.5, and CPO sourced through GreenPalm (CPOGP) receives a weight of 0.25.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (n.d.). Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/palm-oil-scorecard-methodology.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation. n.d. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/palm-oil-scorecard-methodology.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/palm-oil-scorecard-methodology.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientistsnddonuts, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/palm-oil-scorecard-methodology.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }