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The logging of palm trees grown atop the decaying peatlands of Borneo and Sumatra helps drive the economy of Indonesia, and this fact alone is starting to make the nation a top global priority for efforts to mitigate the warming climate. The problem is three-pronged: First, cheap pulp and paper produced in Indonesia winds up in the glossy coated products we know as junk mail, luxury shopping bags or children's books. Then, once the original trees are gone, palm oil plantations are often planted in their place.

TELUK MERANTI, Indonesia — From the air, the Kampar Peninsula in Indonesia stretches for mile after mile in dense scrub and trees. One of the world’s largest peat swamp forests, it is also one of its biggest vaults of carbon dioxide, a source of potentially lucrative currency as world governments struggle to hammer out a global climate treaty. The vault, though, is leaking.

Palm oil is in everything from fuel to cosmetics. Is it a solution or a problem?

It’s lurking, unlabeled, in hundreds of household products from lip gloss to baby formula to potato chips. While it doesn’t sound (and need not be) nefarious, activist groups worldwide argue that the production of palm oil is currently harming rain forests in Southeast Asia, orangutans, and the environment.

But the American Palm Oil Council calls it “nature’s gift to the world.”

So, which is it?

They are the must-have accessory for fashion-conscious shoppers who want to be seen carrying home the most exclusive and expensive brands.

But there is a dirty secret behind the glossy paper bags often spotted dangling from the arms of socialites.

Several of Britain’s top fashion brands and makers of luxury goods have been buying these bags from a supplier majority-owned by a company responsible for destroying millions of acres of Indonesian rainforest.