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Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

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Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
AbbreviationRSPO
FormationApril 2004 (2004-04)
TypeNonprofit
HeadquartersGeneva and Kuala Lumpur
CEO
Joseph (JD) D'Cruz
Staff
51–200
Websitewww.rspo.org
Roundtable No 2 (RT2) in Zürich in 2005

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multistakeholder governance. The seat of the association is in Zürich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur, with a satellite office in Jakarta. RSPO currently has 5,650 members from 94 countries.[1]

The RSPO was established following concerns raised by non-governmental organizations about environmental impacts resulting from palm oil production.[2]

51,999,404 metric tonnes of palm oil produced in 2016 was RSPO certified.[3] Products containing Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) can carry the RSPO trademark.[4] Members of the RSPO include palm oil producers, environmental groups, and manufacturers who use palm oil in their products.[5][2] In 2014, Indonesia accounted for 40% of global palm oil production and 44% of the total RSPO-certified areas.[6]

After the meeting in 2009, a number of environmental organisations were critical of the scope of the agreements reached.[5] Palm oil growers who produce CSPO have been critical of the organization because, though they have met RSPO standards and assumed the costs associated with certification, the market demand for certified palm oil remains low.[2][4] Even though deforestation has decreased in RSPO-certified oil palm plantations, peatlands continue to be drained and burned for the creation of new RSPO-certified palm plantations.[6]

Criticisms

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The RSPO has been criticised by various sectors, especially the environmental NGOs. Issues include the impact of palm oil plantations on the orangutan population; destruction of tropical forest for the new oil palm plantations; the burning and draining of large tracts of peat swamp forest in Borneo, Malaysia. The fact that RSPO members are allowed to clear cut pristine forest areas, when there are large areas of grasslands available in Indonesia,[7] raises doubts about commitment to sustainability.[8] In 2013, the 11th annual RSPO meeting was crashed by palm oil workers and others,[9] and Indonesian and international labour-rights groups have documented a litany of abuses, including forced labour and child labour. A 2013 study uncovered "flagrant disregard for human rights at some of the very plantations the RSPO certifies as 'sustainable'".[10]

The RSPO's pace of progress has drawn considerable negative attention. The organization is currently revising its core Principles and Criteria, only now after five years with the current set, to include a clear standard on deforestation of high conservation value forests,[11] and it took until 2017 to develop a clear Smallholder Standard.[12]

The Rainforest Action Network views the RSPO as a greenwashing tool.[13] Meanwhile, Greenpeace claims that, whilst RSPO has finally banned deforestation after 14 years, this isn't enforced and its members continue to destroy forests.[14]

Scientific analysis

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In July 2020, scientists used 30-year time series of satellite images to reveal that palm oil producing areas certified as sustainable had replaced tropical forests of Sumatra and Borneo, including important habitat for endangered mammals.[15][16] The assessment relied on causal inference – i.e., that deforestation was explicitly linked to certified plantations. A counterfactual evaluation of forest loss in the same region found that certification significantly reduced deforestation, but clearance of peatland clearance or land fires, among participating plantations. Counterfactual evaluations also reveal subtle differences in oil palm impacts between regions, and important trade-offs between environment and development.[17] For example, an appraisal of more than 3000 villages in Indonesia with large-scale oil palm plantations found that compared with similar villages with non-certified plantations, those with RSPO certified plantations experienced an overall reduction in well-being.[18] However, this pattern masked considerable variation across oil palm producing villages - those that had long established plantation agriculture (primarily in Sumatra) experienced improvements in well-being following certification, while those that relied more on subsistence-based livelihoods (primarily in Kalimantan) did not. Those involved in counterfactual evaluations of oil palm and certification agree that more positive impacts of certification will follow recent improvements in standards [19][20][21]

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

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The WWF released a Palm Oil Buyer's Scorecard in 2009.[22] The website stated in 2010:[23]

Clearing for oil palm plantations threatens some of the world’s greatest forests, endangered species such as orangutans, and puts forest-dwelling people at risk. But with better management practices, the palm oil industry could provide benefits without threatening our some of our most breathtaking natural treasures...

Reaching those objectives requires a common language for industry, environmental and social groups to work together. Through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), WWF has helped to establish a platform for these parties to collaborate towards the production of sustainable palm oil. Thanks to the RSPO, sustainable palm oil is now on the market. By applying stringent production criteria to all stages of palm oil manufacture, some companies are proving that oil palm plantations need not flourish at the expense of rainforests. But so much more remains to be done. Too many palm oil producers still ignore the destructive impacts of palm oil plantations, contributing to biodiversity loss and social unrest and more companies that buy palm oil need to switch to using certified sustainable palm oil in their products.

In 2018, the WWF updated its position to support the RSPO Updated Principles and Criteria, the outcome of an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process on achieving sustainable palm oil production, stating that the RSPO "represents an essential tool that can help companies achieve their commitments to palm oil that is free of deforestation, expansion on peat, exploitation and the use of fire."[24]

WWF continues to monitor the palm oil industry.[25]

Other Roundtable initiatives

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Similar initiatives have been established for other sectors including: Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials,[26] Roundtable on Sustainable Forests,[27] Roundtable on Sustainable Development,[28] Roundtable on Responsible Soy,[29] and Roundtable for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy.[30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About Us". Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
  2. ^ a b c Gunasegaran, P. (8 October 2011). "The beginning of the end for RSPO?". The Star Online. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  3. ^ Voora V, Larrea C, Bermudez S, Baliño S (2019). "Global Market Report: Palm Oil". State of Sustainability Initiatives. International Institute for Sustainable Development.
  4. ^ a b Yulisman, Linda (4 June 2011). "RSPO trademark, not much gain for growers: Gapki". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b Browne, Pete (6 November 2009). "Defining 'Sustainable' Palm Oil Production". The New York Times Blogs. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b Carlson, Kimberly M.; Heilmayr, Robert; Gibbs, Holly K.; Noojipady, Praveen; Burns, David N.; Morton, Douglas C.; Walker, Nathalie F.; Paoli, Gary D.; Kremen, Claire (2 January 2018). "Effect of oil palm sustainability certification on deforestation and fire in Indonesia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (1): 121–126. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115..121C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1704728114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5776786. PMID 29229857.
  7. ^ Murniati (2002). "From imperata cylindrica grasslands to productive agroforestry". Tropenbos International. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  8. ^ "Environment - Bumitama Agri Ltd". Bumitama Agri. Archived from the original on 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  9. ^ Eric Gottwald (14 November 2013). "Workers Give Message to RSPO: Don't Certify Abuse!". Labor is Not a Commodity. International Labor Rights Forum. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  10. ^ Empty Assurances: The human cost of palm oil (Report). International Labor Rights Forum and Sawit Watch. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  11. ^ "ANNOUNCEMENT 2ND PUBLIC CONSULTATION - RSPO P&C". www.rspo.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  12. ^ "PUBLIC CONSULTATION - RSPO SMALLHOLDER STANDARD". www.rspo.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  13. ^ "Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies". Associated Press. 20 April 2021.
  14. ^ "5 problems with 'sustainable' palm oil". www.greenpeace.org.uk/. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Certified 'sustainable' palm oil fields endanger mammal habitats and biodiverse tropical forests over 30 years". phys.org. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  16. ^ Cazzolla Gatti, Roberto; Velichevskaya, Alena (10 November 2020). "Certified "sustainable" palm oil took the place of endangered Bornean and Sumatran large mammals habitat and tropical forests in the last 30 years". Science of the Total Environment. 742: 140712. Bibcode:2020ScTEn.742n0712C. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140712. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 32721759. S2CID 220852123. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  17. ^ Lee, Janice Ser Huay; Miteva, Daniela A; Carlson, Kimberly M; Heilmayr, Robert; Saif, Omar (2020-12-01). "Does oil palm certification create trade-offs between environment and development in Indonesia?". Environmental Research Letters. 15 (12): 124064. Bibcode:2020ERL....15l4064L. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abc279. hdl:10356/146164. ISSN 1748-9326. S2CID 230725547.
  18. ^ Santika, Truly; Wilson, Kerrie A.; Law, Elizabeth A.; St John, Freya A. V.; Carlson, Kimberly M.; Gibbs, Holly; Morgans, Courtney L.; Ancrenaz, Marc; Meijaard, Erik; Struebig, Matthew J. (2021). "Impact of palm oil sustainability certification on village well-being and poverty in Indonesia". Nature Sustainability. 4 (2): 109–119. doi:10.1038/s41893-020-00630-1. S2CID 226231802.
  19. ^ Carlson, Kimberly M.; Heilmayr, Robert; Gibbs, Holly K.; Noojipady, Praveen; Burns, David N.; Morton, Douglas C.; Walker, Nathalie F.; Paoli, Gary D.; Kremen, Claire (2018-01-02). "Effect of oil palm sustainability certification on deforestation and fire in Indonesia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (1): 121–126. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115..121C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1704728114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5776786. PMID 29229857.
  20. ^ Lee, Janice Ser Huay; Miteva, Daniela A; Carlson, Kimberly M; Heilmayr, Robert; Saif, Omar (2020-12-01). "Does oil palm certification create trade-offs between environment and development in Indonesia?". Environmental Research Letters. 15 (12): 124064. Bibcode:2020ERL....15l4064L. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abc279. hdl:10356/146164. ISSN 1748-9326. S2CID 230725547.
  21. ^ Santika, Truly; Wilson, Kerrie A.; Law, Elizabeth A.; St John, Freya A. V.; Carlson, Kimberly M.; Gibbs, Holly; Morgans, Courtney L.; Ancrenaz, Marc; Meijaard, Erik; Struebig, Matthew J. (February 2021). "Impact of palm oil sustainability certification on village well-being and poverty in Indonesia". Nature Sustainability. 4 (2): 109–119. doi:10.1038/s41893-020-00630-1. ISSN 2398-9629. S2CID 226231802.
  22. ^ "WWF - Scoring palm oil buyers in Europe". Panda.org. Archived from the original on 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  23. ^ "What is WWF doing about conversion of forests for palm oil?". World Wildlife Fund. Archived from the original on 2010-03-03.
  24. ^ "WWF's position on the proposed adoption of the 2018 RSPO Principles and Criteria".
  25. ^ "Palm Oil | Industries | WWF". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  26. ^ "RSB Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials | Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials". Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  27. ^ Daniel Swensen. "Roundtable on Sustainable Forests". Sustainableforests.net. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  28. ^ "RTSD". Oecd.org. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  29. ^ "Round Table on Responsible Soy Association". Responsiblesoy.org. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  30. ^ "Roundtable for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE WORLD COCOA ECONOMY". Roundtablecocoa.org. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
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