In response to the urgent and pressing global call for sustainably produced palm oil, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders.
The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur with a satellite office in Jakarta.
RSPO is a not-for-profit association that unites stakeholders from seven sectors of the palm oil industry - oil palm producers, palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs and social or developmental NGOs - to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.
Such multi-stakeholder representation is mirrored in the governance structure of RSPO such that seats in the Executive Board and project level Working Groups are fairly allocated to each sector. In this way, RSPO lives out the philosophy of the "roundtable" by giving equal rights to each stakeholder group to bring group-specific agendas to the roundtable, facilitating traditionally adversarial stakeholders and business competitors to work together towards a common objective and making decisions by consensus
The organization holds an annual meeting called RT or Round Table Meetings to bring together the various stakeholders to negotiate and deliberate on various issues affecting the industry. Such multi-stakeholder representation is mirrored in the governance structure of RSPO such that seats in the Executive Board and project level Working Groups are fairly allocated to each sector.
Some of the key achievements of the organization so far include: Establishment of the RSPO Principles & Criteria (P&C) for certification of mills and plantations; Formation of Working Groups on Green House Gases to address climate change issues; Smallholder Task Force to protect the rights of small farmers planting oil palm; and Biodiversity Technical Committee to work out biodiversity issues pertaining to sustainable production and biodiversity protection and conservation.[1]
It all started with an article in the Swiss newspaper “Tages Anzeiger” in November 1999. When taking note of the palm oil problem, Migros was seeking for a solution from the first moment and contacted first Bruno Manser, a Swiss forest activist who lived several years together with the Penan people at Borneo.
Bruno Manser was a human rights activist. From 1984 to 1990 he lived in Sarawak together with the Penan people. He helped the Penan to offer resistance against the timber industry who penetrated more and more their habitat. He became the international voice of the endangered people in the tropical forest. From his last journey to the Sarawak in the year 2000, he never came back and has been lost since then. The Bruno-Manser-Fonds,[2] an association founded by Bruno Manser and other persons with the aim to protect the rain forests and the indigenous people, is still very concerned about the increasing consumption and the consequences of palm oil production for the tropical forests.
Migros contacted WWF for the first time in January 2000 and WWF, Proforest and Migros developed together the first set of P&C for sustainable palm oil which became the basis for the RSPO P&C. A first supplier was audited (GOPDC in Ghana) and Migros imported the first batch of segregated sustainable palm oil from Ghana in December 2001. This project got the “World Business Award for Sustainable Development Partnership” at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August/September 2002.
The proof of the feasibility for the sustainable palm oil production as well as the existence of a market for that product was the starting point for the RSPO initiative by WWF Switzerland.
After this first exploration of sustainable palm oil production in Ghana, an informal co-operation among Aarhus United UK Ltd, Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, Migros, Malaysian Palm Oil Association, Sainsbury's and Unilever was initiated with WWF in 2002. These organizations constituted themselves as an Organizing Committee to organize the first Roundtable meeting and to prepare the foundation for the organizational and governance structure for the formation of the RSPO.
The inaugural meeting of the Roundtable took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 21–22 August 2003 and was attended by 200 participants from 16 countries. The key output from this meeting was the adoption of the Statement of Intent (SOI) which is a non-legally binding expression of support for the Roundtable process.[3]
On 8 April 2004, the "Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)," was formally established under Article 60 of the Swiss Civil Code with a governance structure that ensures fair representation of all stakeholders throughout the entire supply chain . The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland,the Secretariat is based in Kuala Lumpur with a RSPO Liaison office in Jakarta.[4]
In November 2007 RSPO's members accepted RSPO's Principles & Criteria (P&C's), which then were available to plantation companies to implement these. First official certifications were granted by mid 2008. In October 2008 the first batch of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) was landed in the Port of Rotterdam. Now, March 2010, its real uptake in the market seems to be started, with sales growing every month.[5],[6]. The Star Newspaper quoted "Since the introduction of the RSPO standards, there has been a phenomenal increase in CSPO production, reflected by the 100% year-on-year growth from 2009 to 2010. In just over two years, 7% of global palm oil, or 3.7 million tonnes, consists of CSPO."[7]
The average uptake of CSPO produced was 26% in 2009 and 56% in 2010. This is an exceptional advancement rate for any market innovation, more so within the sustainable sphere..[7]
“A round table is one which has no "head" and no "sides", and therefore no one person sitting at it is given a privileged position and all are treated as equals. The idea stems from the Arthurian legend about the Knights of the Round Table in Camelot.” [8]
In this way, RSPO lives out the philosophy of the "roundtable" by giving equal rights to each stakeholder group to bring group-specific agendas to the roundtable, facilitating traditionally adversarial stakeholders and business competitors to work together towards a common objective and making decisions by consensus.
RSPO is a voluntary association managed by an executive board. The board members range from oil palm/palm oil companies to NGOs, in seven core stakeholder groups in all, all with equal rights to have their say in sustainable production of palm oil. Members join RSPO in 7 sectors.[9] Each sector is allotted its quota of executive board members who can only be from the sector and only elected by the members in the sector. The executive board members are elected at the General Assembly to serve for 2 years, after which they can continue to serve subject to re-election. The election is on a rotating basis, with half of the seats elected yearly. The elected members of the executive board elect from among themselves, the President, the four vice-Presidents and the Treasurer. The Secretary General, who is appointed by the Board, is responsible for conducting the affairs of the organization including custodianship of fund and policies of the organization.[4]
The RSPO or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has defined sustainability as "the Capability of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (The Brundtland Commission’s definition).[10]
While the definition of sustainable according to www.thefreedictionary.com is: 1. Capable of being sustained. 2. Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment: sustainable agriculture.[11]
RSPO sustainability efforts begins from good environmental, social and agricultural practices: where the oil palm is first planted and grown to it final destination, the plate of a consumers or other products.
Through project-driven Working Groups formed by voluntary RSPO members, many of them experts in their own fields, RSPO is spearheading the following initiatives in order to fulfil its objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.
Defining sustainable palm oil RSPO has developed a set of standards called the Principles & Criteria (P&C) that define the practices for sustainable palm oil production. These standards address the legal, economic, environmental and social requirements of producing sustainable palm oil.
RSPO’s Principles and Criteria (P&C) for sustainable palm oil production are based on these principles: 1. Commitment to transparency 2. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations 3. Commitment to long-term economic and financial viability 4. Use of appropriate best practices by growers and millers 5. Environmental responsibility and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity 6. Responsible consideration for employees and for individuals and communities affected by growers and mills 7. Responsible development of new plantings 8. Commitment to continuous improvement in key areas of activity [12]
At the present time, it is possible to be a full member of the RSPO without ever actually producing any RSPO certified sustainable palm oil. However, organisations need membership approval based on their firm and specific aspirations towards Sustainable Palm Oil. [13]
GHG is being addressed through public policy and business strategies, to develop a process that will lead to meaningful and verifiable reductions in GHG emissions from the palm oil supply chain. This process will be based on a framework approach where emission reductions are to be measured against a reference case for operational corporate units; actions are to be taken on a voluntary basis subject with the intent of achieving continuous improvement over time. And six workstreams have been established to progress the strategies. The Workstreams include:
[14] Green House Gasses Working Group
A framework which RSPO members can use to measure, monitor and report GHGs within their operations as well as identifying voluntary actions on GHG management will be produced.
Focus on emissions related to operational management of peat and frame the best management practices.
The scientific panel will review existing information about land use and land use change and its impact on GHGs including identifying gaps and areas of uncertainty in the current body of information. To used, to develop a series of future scenarios, and examine the impact of different land management options.
This panel will be to focus on the legal, institutional and policy barriers to implementing strategies to reduce GHG emissions – particularly those related to land-use change.
Focus on the activities being undertaken by RSPO membership categories other than producers and processors, including investors, NGOs etc., to reduce and manage their emissions.
Collect information on the activities which RSPO members are already planning or implementing to better understand and manage GHGs from production and processing.
Palm oil makes up about 30% share of the edible oils traded and consumed around the world today. It has been estimated that 40 million tonnes of palm oil was traded in 2008. Late 2009, about 1.5 million tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil was produced. Multi-nationals and industry players have pledged to have most of their outputs certified sustainable by 2015.
Certified sustainable palm oil is traded in one of the following four ways: Identity Preserved, Segregation, Mass Balance, and the GreenPalm certificate trading programme. Under “Identity Preserved” the oil can be traced back to the specific plantation in which it has been cultivated and produced.Under “Segregation” sustainably produced palm oil is kept separate from the non-sustainably produced oil all through the value chain. The “Mass Balance” should be regarded as an intermediate model towards Segregation, allowing supply chain companies to gradually prepare for segregated trading. In this model the certified physical oil is allowed to be mixed with conventional oil throughout the supply chain, while allowing specific sustainability claims. It is a step towards full segregation, making use of the same administrative systems as are applicable for Segregation.
Due to the complexities of producing traceable supply chains for sustainable palm oil, many of the biggest multinational users of palm oil have opted to use Greenpalm,[6] a certificate trading system that enables palm oil producers to earn a premium for using sustainable production methods, regardless of whether their product is exported. RSPO-certified producers are issued certificates for each tonne of certified palm oil that they produce. End-users can then 'cover' their use of palm oil by buying the certificates from Greenpalm, in the process supporting sustainable palm oil production. In September 2010, the sale price of a greenpalm certificate for one tonne of sustainable palm oil was between $8 and $10. A small proportion of the 900,000-plus GreenPalm certificates which had been issued by September 2010 had yet to be been redeemed by end users. [15]
The certification group UTZ CERTIFIED [16] have developed a system for tracking certified sustainable palm oil.
Since the inception of RSPO, the association has been striving for the palm oil industry to be sustainable throughout its life cycle; from the palm to the plate or end-user. At the moment, to be recognized as certified sustainable is only at the following three levels of the supply chain:[17] a. At the plantation; b. At the mills; c. At the supply chain.
The attached below is the Schematic Overview of the Palm Oil Supply Chain:
Non governmental organisations interested in the issue of palm oil production and the destruction of rainforest are divided about the RSPO.
Friends of the Earth International
FOEI are extremely critical of the RSPO. Their website states[18]
"Essentially, RSPO companies are subjected to technical principles and criteria, but social and environmental issues of oil palm cultivation are largely framed within flawed political processes, poor governance and unsustainable market demand. Understood within this context, the RSPO is a voluntary certification process for a market premium and membership that may be able to add a much sought after and totally misleading 'green tag' to the industry. Moreover, it provides certification without having to actually address some of the most very basic, structural issues that gave rise to the adverse impacts of oil palm cultivation. Friends of the Earth International therefore does not regard the RSPO as a credible certification process as it is only a limited tool of technicality which is not able to adequately address the horrendous impacts of oil palm cultivation on forests, land and communities."
Greenpeace
Greenpeace are occupying a difficult ground of being both a supporter and a critic of the RPSO. According to the Unilever website,[19] Executive Director of Greenpeace John Sauven is quoted as saying
"Unilever's decision could represent a defining moment for the palm oil industry. What we're seeing here is the world's largest buyer of palm oil using its financial muscle to sanction suppliers who are destroying rainforests and clearing peat lands. This has set a new standard for others to follow."
But, Greenpeace UK's website now states:[20]
"Industry efforts to bring this deforestation under control have come through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). It was set up in 2004 to establish clear ethical and ecological standards for producing palm oil, and its members include high-street names like Unilever, Cadbury's, Nestlé and Tesco, as well as palm oil traders such as Cargill and ADM. Together, these companies represent 40 per cent of global palm oil trade.
But since then, forest destruction has continued. Many RSPO members are taking no steps to avoid the worst practices associated with the industry, such as large-scale forest clearance and taking land from local people without their consent. On top of this, the RSPO actually risks creating the illusion of sustainable palm oil, justifying the expansion of the palm oil industry."
A recent investigation by Greenpeace [21] found worrying issues with one of Unilever's main palmoil suppliers, which Unilever recently accepted and announced they would stop using that supplier.[22] Unilever and Greenpeace also announced that they would work together to lobby for a moratorium on deforestation for palm oil.[23]
Unilever is currently purchasing Greenpalm certificates - and aims to purchase certificates for 30% of their total production in 2010 rising to 100% in 2015. Although Unilever uses more than a million tonnes of palm oil per year, this represents less than 5% of the total production of palm oil.
PT SMART, the Palm Oil supplier that was working with Unilever, apparently thinks that the Unilever contract is too small to be of any serious consequence. The cancelled contract apparently affected only 3% [24] of their total production. PT SMART is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.[25]
Rainforest Action Network
The RAN also has a position of qualified support for the RSPO system.
Recent blogs by David Gilbert,[26] a Research Fellow at RAN, who attended the 2009 RSPO annual meeting in Kuala Lumpa, showed some of the intense dissatisfaction with the process.
"The RSPO is the world’s largest annual meeting of oil palm industry, environmentalists, human rights advocates, and, most importantly, community members. Today, I watched as a community member from Borneo stood up in front of oil palm producers, NGOs, and technocrats, identified himself as a victim of oil palm expansion, and tore apart the falsity that some of the world’s richest businessmen desperately want us to believe; the falsity that oil palm helps the world’s poor: Oil palm does not lead to the development of a country. Wealth, contained in the natural resources of the our forests and controlled by us,is flattened and burned, and then collected by the world’s rich, from Companies like Sinar Mas, Cargill, IOI, and Duta Palma. Oil palm does not bring wealth to the poor, it takes it away. Oil palm development, like so many neo-colonial trading systems, makes the poor poorer and the rich richer.
WWF
The WWF recently released the first WWF Palm Oil Buyer's Scorecard.[27] The website states:
"WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard, released today, scored the performance of 59 of the most prominent retailers and manufacturers in Europe that buy and use palm oil in their products. The Scorecard comes as the world’s largest producers, buyers, and traders of palm oil gather for the 7th Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, held Nov. 2-4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Scorecard reveals that 10 of those 59 companies have scored 20 or more points, and thus are considered by WWF to be showing real progress on their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil. They have joined the Roundtable, properly monitored their palm oil purchases, and have put in place and started to take action on commitments to buy certified sustainable palm oil WWF welcomes the action of those companies that have moved toward buying certified palm oil,” said Rod Taylor, Director of the Forests Programme at WWF International. “Although many companies have a long way to go, the performances of the top companies in the Scorecard signal to the rest of the industry that it is possible to turn commitment into action and transform the market.”
The formation of the RSPO has not been without criticism from various sectors, especially the environmental NGOs. The main issues flagged include:
Similar initiatives have been in established for other sectors, and they include:
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) is coordinated by the Energy Center at EPFL in Lausanne, it is an international initiative that brings together farmers, companies, non-governmental organizations, experts, governments, and inter-governmental agencies concerned with ensuring the sustainability of biofuels production and processing.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Forests is an American initiative, open and inclusive process committed to the goal of sustainable forest management (SFM) on public and private lands in the United States. This Roundtable includes public and private organizations and individuals committed to better decision-making through shared learning, increased understanding and foster dialogue on sustainable forests.
The Round Table on Sustainable Development was established in 1998 to provide an informal setting through which ministers can engage one another and key international business and civil society leaders without prejudice to negotiating positions on cross-cutting issues.
The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) is an international platform composed of the main soy value chain stakeholders with the common objective of promoting the responsible soy production through collaboration and dialogue among the involved sectors in order to foster a economical, social and environmental sustainability.
The Roundtable for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy (RSCE) is an initiative for dialogue and sustainability amongst all stakeholders in the cocoa economy: cocoa farmers and cooperatives, traders, exporters, processors, chocolate manufacturers, wholesalers, governmental and non-governmental organizations, financial institutions as well as donor agencies.