Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Agriculture, livestock and food · Democratic Republic of the Congo · 2013–2019

European development banks financed Feronia palm plantations in Congo

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

FMO and other European development banks invested $100 million to $200 million from 2013 in Feronia/PHC palm plantations in DR Congo. Nine communities seek the return of their land, and the sources reviewed do not measure forest loss.

What?
FMO and other European development banks invested $100 million to $200 million in Feronia/PHC palm plantations in DR Congo from 2013. Trouw
Where?
Democratic Republic of the Congo Trouw
When?
From 2013; reported October 2019 Trouw
Who?
Gained
  • Feronia/PHC — Development-bank investment for palm plantations; claims an area of over 100,000 hectares Trouw
Lost
  • Nine communities — Seeking the return of land they want back from the plantations Trouw
Harmed
  • A human rights defender (not named) — Killed in July 2019; Trouw does not link the killing to the plantations Trouw
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Investment by development finance institutions in planted palm estates. Trouw
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Trouw reported in October 2019 that FMO and other European development banks invested $100 million to $200 million from 2013 in Feronia/PHC palm plantations, of which about 25,000 hectares are planted.

Trouw reported that the company says the area it claims is over 100,000 hectares, and that nine communities want their land back.

Trouw also reported that a human rights defender was killed in July 2019.

FMO's complaints mechanism accepted a complaint about Feronia in 2019, and FMO stayed invested in the plantations (Trouw; TNI).

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Feronia says it holds 25-year renewable leases.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the plantations come from a 1911 Belgian colonial concession to a Lever company, and were held by Unilever until 2009.
    • None on record Not established: whether the July 2019 killing was linked to the plantations; the sources reviewed do not say.
    • None on record Not found: forest loss or land-use change figures for the plantations.
    • None on record Not found: a TNI briefing link in the reviewed material; the TNI reference has no public link.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
    Similar cases
    Agriculture, livestock and food · Tree planting · Mozambique · 2007
    Chikweti forestry plantations (Mozambique)
    Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Agriculture, livestock and food · Brazil · date not stated
    Green tobacco sickness in Rio Grande do Sul and tobacco curing deforestation
    Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Agriculture, livestock and food · United States · 2001–2026
    Walton family grants and board ties link Conservation International to Walmart
    Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Agriculture, livestock and food · Morocco · 2025
    Morocco says it cut cadmium in phosphate fertilisers; EU cannot verify the claim
    Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Agriculture, livestock and food · Mozambique · 2007–2011
    Dutch pension fund ABP held a stake in a Mozambique forest fund
    Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Agriculture, livestock and food · Water use · Chemical pollution · Protected area / relocation · Netherlands · 1990–2026
    Dutch nitrogen crisis and farm buyouts
    Same type: Agriculture, livestock and foodHarm to nature not measured