One of the world's largest palm oil traders, Wilmar International, has promised to step up efforts to combat deforestation and peatland destruction throughout its supply chain in a new supplier monitoring and engagement plan published today.

Following pressure from environmental groups, the Singapore-based company's plan will see it map and monitor all its palm oil suppliers in a bid to "step up the effectiveness" of its 'no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation' (NDPE) policy.

Wilmar - which supplies around 40 per cent of the world's palm oil and boasts a raft of blue chip customers such as Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Mondelez - also said it would "provide remediation for past deforestation by its third-party suppliers".

The company is working with green consultancy Aidenvironment to develop a comprehensive palm oil supplier group mapping database under the latter's compliance programme, which it said would enable land development activities of Wilmar's suppliers to be better monitored.

In a statement released today, Wilmar said it had achieved significant progress implementing the NDPE policy across its supply chain over the past five years, but that it had been "challenged by the opaque ownership structures some companies have in place".

It therefore hopes to fully implement the monitoring plan to ensure a deforestation-free palm oil supply chain from 2020 onward, while from January any suppliers involved in deforestation and new development on peatland will face "immediate suspension of sourcing", Wilmar said.

"However, to avoid suspensions from inadvertently contributing to a growing 'leakage market' or negatively impacting oil palm smallholders, post-suspension engagement is crucial, enabling us to assist suppliers in bringing their operations to compliance," the statement added.

Wilmar's chief sustainability officer Jeremy Goon also emphasised the importance of engagement with its smallholder suppliers to enact change.

"We must ensure that by raising the bar even higher, we do not contribute to a growing market of unsustainable palm oil, also known as the ‘leakage market'," he explained. "Hence, we continue to place much importance on engagement so that we can continue to guide and assist our smallholders and suppliers towards compliance with our NDPE policy."

Greenpeace has fought a long campaign against unsustainable palm oil production in Southeast Asia, with its protestors occupying Wilmar's refinery in Indonesia and blockading Mondelez's factory in Italy, among other actions.

The green group said it was now "pausing its campaign to give Wilmar space to put this plan into action".

Kiki Taufik, global head of Indonesian Forests Campaign at Greenpeace Southeast Asia, praised Wilmar's announcement today as a "potential breakthrough" for the industry.

"If Wilmar keeps its word, by the end of 2019 it will be using satellites to monitor all of its palm oil suppliers, making it almost impossible for them to get away with forest destruction," he said. "Greenpeace will be watching closely to make sure Wilmar delivers."

In the UK, Greenpeace has also been actively campaigning against environmental impacts associated with palm oil, having teamed up with UK supermarket Iceland on a recent Christmas advert campaign involving animated orangutans, which was contriversially barred from appearing on TV.