Global food and consumer goods companies are backing a plan to certify palm oil - the vegetable oil used in products ranging from margarine to cosmetics, and, increasingly, biodiesel - to ensure that its soaring production doesn't spur greater destruction of tropical rainforests.

The push for "green" palm oil has been joined by Unilever PLC, Johnson & Johnson Inc., Nestle SA and H.J. Heinz & Co. The companies have signed up with a consortium of 200 oil producers, commercial buyers and environmental groups to improve the industry's image and avert a consumer backlash. Almost 90 percent of all palm oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, which have seen widespread deforestation in recent years, much of it from illegal land-clearing and logging. The development of oil palm plantations is causing the loss of forests in Indonesia, putting the survival of animals like the orangutan at risk, the United Nations Environment Program said in a report last year.

Environmental groups fear destruction will accelerate as the price of crude palm oil - called "green gold" by some producers - hits records. Palm-oil futures on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange hit an all-time high Monday of 3,420 ringgit ($1,044) per ton amid surging demand from China and tight global supplies of other vegetable oils. More and more, palm oil is also being sought as a feedstock for biodiesel, pushing its price even higher in line with crude oil's spike above $100 a barrel in early January. By some industry estimates, Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil exporters took in about $20 billion in 2007 from global sales. Click here to read more.