rspo news from mongabay.com

Palm oil giant to produce 100% segregated, RSPO-certified palm oil

2012-05-23T14:22:00Z

100 percent of New Britain Palm Oil Limited's palm oil will be eco-certified, segregated, and fully traceable by the end of the year, reports the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

In sustainability push, Unilever aims to build palm oil processing plant in Indonesia

2012-04-25T20:56:00Z

Unilever is in talks to build a $130 million palm oil processing mill in Indonesia as part of its commitment to use more environmentally-friendly palm oil in its products, reports The Wall Street Journal. The mill, which would be located in Sumatra, would produce about 10 percent of Unilever's annual consumption of palm oil, which is produced from fruit from the oil palm tree. Unilever is the world's largest single consumer of palm oil, using 1.36 million tons a year for beauty and food products, including Dove soap, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and Vasoline.

Green groups may call for boycott of Indonesian palm oil over forest destruction in Sumatra

2012-04-11T21:47:00Z

Environmental groups are escalating their battle over an area of peat forest in Tripa, Sumatra that has been granted for oil palm plantations.

Certified palm oil profitable for companies, finds study

2012-04-06T04:39:00Z

A new study suggests shifting to certified palm oil production increases profitability despite higher production costs.

Our success in transforming commodity markets will determine nature's fate

2012-04-01T15:31:00Z

The success of governments and big corporations in eliminating environmental degradation from the products we consume will play a critical role in determining the fate of the world's remaining wild places, said a group of experts speaking at a panel during the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.

RSPO-certified palm oil production jumps, generates $21M in premiums for producers

2012-03-08T06:27:00Z

Production and sales of palm oil certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) reached record volume in 2011, reports a new analysis published by the multistakeholder body.

Belgium to source only RSPO-certified palm oil by 2015

2012-01-31T21:53:00Z

Belgium will source only palm oil certified under the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by 2015 under a pledge by an alliance of major processors, manufacturers, and industry associations, reports the RSPO.

The year in review for rainforests

2011-12-28T18:08:00Z

2011 was designated as "Year of the Forests" by the United Nations. While there was relatively little progress on intergovernmental forest protection programs during the year, a lot happened elsewhere. Below is a look at some of the biggest tropical forest-related news stories for 2011. We at mongabay readily acknowledge there were a number of important temperate and boreal forest developments, including Britain's decision not to privatize its forests and the severe drought in Texas, but this article will cover only tropical forest news.

Will 'sustainable' palm oil sell in China?

2011-12-19T20:52:00Z

Owing to the high yield of the African oil palm tree, palm oil is today the cheapest commercial source of edible oil. But oil palm expansion in recent decades has at times had high indirect costs, including destruction of biologically diverse rainforests and further marginalization of forest-dependent people, especially in southeast Asia. Concerns over the environmental and social impact of palm oil production in the spurred a group of palm oil producers, processors, and buyers to team up with conservation groups to form the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004. But a big question looms over all certification efforts: will the world's largest importers of palm oil — India and China — buy it?

Cargill should do more to end use of problematic palm oil, says RAN

2011-11-24T16:30:00Z

As part of our coverage of the 9th Annual Roundtable Meeting on Sustainable Palm Oil currently underway in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, mongabay.com is interviewing participants and attendees. In the following interview, mongabay.com speaks with the delegation from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), an advocacy group which has been critical of some Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) members for what is sees as ongoing social and environmental problems.

Palm oil giant misled the public on violent conflict with local communities

2011-11-21T06:45:00Z

Palm oil giant Wilmar Corp misled the public over a conflict between local communities and one of its subsidiaries in Sumatra, according to a new report published by the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP).

McDonald's joins sustainable palm oil initiative

2011-10-20T18:30:00Z

McDonald's Corp. has officially joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body that sets criteria for improving the social and environmental performance of palm oil production.

After protracted campaign, Girl Scouts pledges to cut out some palm oil

2011-10-02T18:43:00Z

Girl Scouts USA has announced that it will lessen palm oil in its ubiquitous cookies by using alternatives when possible and cutting overall usage. The organization also committed to purchasing GreenPalm certificates for all of its palm oil in order to financially support more environmentally sustainable palm oil, even if the palm oil in the cookies is not.

Europe should lift duty on RSPO-certified palm oil to encourage use, says Dutch group

2011-09-21T16:32:00Z

To encourage uptake of palm oil that is less damaging to the environment, the European Union (EU) should lift the import duty on palm oil certified under Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), said a Dutch industry group.

Malaysian government to launch RSPO rival for palm oil certification

2011-08-02T23:55:00Z

The Malaysian government is developing its own certification system for palm oil production, potentially creating another rival to the certification system run by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), reports Malaysia's Business Times.

Cargill adopts 'greener' palm oil policy

2011-07-12T21:34:00Z

Agribusiness giant Cargill will ensure all palm oil supplied to customers in Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an environmental standard, or originated from smallholder growers by 2015, according to a statement issued by the company. Cargill says it will extend the commitment to 100 percent of its products and customers globally – including China and India, the largest consumers of palm oil – by 2020.

Europe to require listing of palm oil on product labels

2011-07-08T17:39:00Z

Members of the European Parliament have voted in favor of listing specific vegetable oils — including palm oil — on product labels, reports the Clear Labels, Not Forests initiative which pushed for the measure.

Australia's Senate passes palm oil labeling bill

2011-06-27T21:58:00Z

Just days after being rejected by the the Senate Community Affairs Committee, Australia's Senate passed the Amended Truth in Labeling - Palm Oil Bill.

Alleged moratorium breach becomes test for RSPO

2011-06-24T00:34:00Z

An alleged breach of Indonesia's new moratorium on primary forest and peatlands conversion may prove a test for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an eco-certification initiative.

Could palm oil help save the Amazon?

2011-06-14T13:40:00Z

For years now, environmentalists have become accustomed to associating palm oil with large-scale destruction of rainforests across Malaysia and Indonesia. Campaigners have linked palm oil-containing products like Girl Scout cookies and soap products to smoldering peatlands and dead orangutans. Now with Brazil announcing plans to dramatically scale-up palm oil production in the Amazon, could the same fate befall Earth's largest rainforest? With this potential there is a frenzy of activity in the Brazilian palm oil sector. Yet there is a conspicuous lack of hand wringing by environmentalists in the Amazon. The reason: done right, oil palm could emerge as a key component in the effort to save the Amazon rainforest. Responsible production there could even force changes in other parts of the world.

Dutch buy first 'responsible' soy sourced from the Amazon

2011-06-08T19:46:00Z

The Dutch food and feed industry has bought the first soy produced under the principles of the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), a body that aims to bring more socially and environmentally sustainable soy to market.

Girls Scouts censors Facebook page after coming under criticism for product linked to rainforest loss

2011-05-04T18:17:00Z

Girls Scouts USA has censored its Facebook page after receiving comments criticizing the organization, according to Rainforest Action Network (RAN). RAN along with Change.org and two Girl Scout activists, Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva, declared today a social media day of activism against the Girl Scouts for using palm oil in their popular cookies. The oil has been linked to rainforest destruction in Indonesia and Malaysia.

RSPO: Labeling palm oil as an ingredient is fine, provided other oils are labeled too

2011-04-21T14:00:00Z

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body that sets criteria for social and environmental certification of palm oil, weighed in on the debate on Australia's proposal to require listing of palm oil as an ingredient on package labels. At the same time the RSPO announced its own labeling initiative to distinguish products that use RSPO-certified palm oil from those that do not.

Avon commits to greener palm oil

2011-04-15T05:10:00Z

The beauty products giant Avon will purchase enough GreenPalm certificates to meet 100 percent of its palm oil use.

Malaysian palm oil giant in fight with forest people gets rebuke from RSPO

2011-04-06T17:35:00Z

A Malaysian palm oil company facing criticism for a land use dispute with forest people in Borneo has been suspended from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an eco-certification body.

Pro-deforestation group criticizes palm oil giant for sustainability pact

2011-03-24T17:56:00Z

World Growth International, a group that advocates on behalf of industrial forestry interests, has criticized Golden Agri Resources (GAR), Indonesia's largest palm oil producer, for signing a forest policy that aims to protect high conservation value and high carbon stock forest and requires free, prior informed consent (FPIC) in working with communities potentially affected by oil palm development. In a newsletter published March 10, World Growth International claimed that GAR's agreement "could severely hamper the company's growth" by limiting where it can establish new plantations and says that negotiating with multiple stakeholders "will delay and complicate any investment by the company." World Growth International concludes by implying that GAR may renege on its commitment. But Peter Heng, Managing Director, Communications and Sustainability at GAR, disagreed with World Growth International's assessment.

Palm oil company gives up land contested by local communities as part of sustainability pledge

2011-03-21T21:36:00Z

An Indonesia palm oil company has relinquished part of its plantation concession to communities that traditionally use the land as part of its commitment to sustainability principles under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), reports the Forest Peoples Programme. The move is a response to a new procedure that could reduce conflict between palm oil developers and forest-dependent communities.

Coalition calls on Europe to label palm oil on food products

2011-03-15T20:42:00Z

Do you have the right to know whether the chocolate bar you're munching on includes palm oil, which is blamed for vast deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia? How about that frozen pizza? According to a coalition of environmental and conservation groups it's time for food manufacturers to add palm oil to the label in Europe, instead of currently being listed as simply, and erroneously (palm kernels are fruits), 'vegetable oil'.

McDonald's launches new sourcing policy for palm oil, paper, beef to reduce global environmental impact

2011-03-11T00:07:00Z

McDonald's announced a far-reaching sourcing policy that could significantly reduce the fast-food giant's impact on the environment, including global forests. Yesterday McDonald's unveiled its Sustainable Land Management Commitment, a policy that requires its suppliers to use 'agricultural raw materials for the company's food and packaging that originate from sustainably-managed land'.

Kellogg switches to 'greener' palm oil

2011-03-08T06:55:00Z

Kellogg Company will support greener palm oil production through the purchase of 'sustainable' palm oil certificates until it can obtain a segregated, sustainable supply, said the food giant in a statement.

Breakthrough? Controversial palm oil company signs rainforest pact

2011-02-09T05:38:00Z

One of the world's highest profile and most controversial palm oil companies, Golden Agri-Resources Limited (GAR), has signed an agreement committing it to protect tropical forests and peatlands in Indonesia. The deal—signed with The Forest Trust, an environmental group that works with companies to improve their supply chains—could have significant ramifications for how palm oil is produced in the country, which is the world's largest producer of palm oil.

Greening the world with palm oil?

2011-01-26T02:25:00Z

The commercial shows a typical office setting. A worker sits drearily at a desk, shredding papers and watching minutes tick by on the clock. When his break comes, he takes out a Nestle KitKat bar. As he tears into the package, the viewer, but not the office worker, notices something is amiss—what should be chocolate has been replaced by the dark hairy finger of an orangutan. With the jarring crunch of teeth breaking through bone, the worker bites into the “bar." Drops of blood fall on the keyboard and run down his face. His officemates stare, horrified. The advertisement cuts to a solitary tree standing amid a deforested landscape. A chainsaw whines. The message: Palm oil—an ingredient in many Nestle products—is killing orangutans by destroying their habitat, the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.

Sales of RSPO-certified palm oil surge 225%

2011-01-10T00:09:00Z

Sales of palm oil certified under the leading sustainability standard surged 225 percent in 2010, suggesting growing consumer interest in more responsibly-sourced palm oil.

Converting palm oil companies from forest destroyers into forest protectors

2011-01-02T23:47:00Z

In efforts to save the world's remaining rainforests great hopes have been pinned on "degraded lands" — deforested lands that are presently sitting idle in tropical countries. Optimists say shifting agriculture to such lands will help humanity produce enough food to meet growing demand without sacrificing forests and biodiversity and exacerbating social conflict. But to date, degraded lands remain an enigma, especially in Indonesia, where deforestation continues at a rapid pace. Degraded lands are often misclassified by various Indonesian ministries—land in a far-off province may be listed as "wasteland" by Jakarta, but in reality is blanked by verdant forest that sequesters carbon, houses wildlife, and affords communities with food, water, and other essentials. Granting logging and plantation concessions on these lands can result in conflict and environmental degradation.

Lack of price premium for certified palm oil endangers sustainability initiative

2010-12-19T02:53:00Z

The palm oil industry's sustainability initiative is making considerable progress toward improving its environmental performance, but needs to do more to accelerate the adoption of responsible practices, argue researchers writing in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Science.

RSPO to recognize secondary forests as conservation priority

2010-11-12T18:38:00Z

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body that sets environmental standards for palm oil production, has passed a resolution to reconfirm that secondary and degraded forests can classified as High Conservation Value (HCV) areas. The designation could increase the area of forest conserved within oil palm plantations provided it has high conservation significance, such as serving as habitat for endangered species like orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and rhinos.

Indonesia to launch rival palm oil certification standard

2010-11-10T17:25:00Z

The Indonesian government is moving closer to launching its own certification system to ensure less damaging palm oil production, reports the Jakarta Post. The scheme would rival the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a multi-stakeholder body that has been developing criteria since 2004 and began shipping certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) in 2008.

U.S. companies should help drive push toward sustainable palm oil

2010-11-09T06:12:00Z

U.S. companies should take a leadership role in helping ensure that palm oil production is sustainable and does not come at the cost of forests, climate, and communities, argues a new report published ahead of the annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The report, published by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), says that while the U.S. is only a minor consumer of palm oil, its demand for the vegetable oil is fast rising, increasing four-fold since 2006. Palm oil, which is among the cheapest of vegetables owing to its high yield, is now found in up to 50 percent of packaged retail food products.

Eco-friendly palm oil conference opens

2010-11-08T19:20:00Z

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body that has devised certification criteria to improve the social and environmental performance of palm oil, opens its annual meeting tomorrow in Jakarta.

Dutch to use only certified palm oil by 2015

2010-11-04T22:24:00Z

The Netherlands has committed to only using palm oil certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by 2015, providing a huge boost for the certification standard which aims to improve the social and environmental performance of the world's most productive oil crop. The pledge makes the Netherlands the first country to commit itself to using only sustainable palm oil.

Embattled palm oil company seeks redemption from certification body

2010-10-30T01:31:00Z

Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) and its subsidiaries, Indonesia-based PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources & Technology (SMART) and PT Ivo Mas Tunggal, had submitted plans for coming into compliance with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a certification body for "greener" palm oil, reports Dow Jones.

Compliance with national law not enough to meet int'l market demands

2010-10-05T19:51:00Z

A UK-based cosmetics firm is severing ties with its palm oil supplier after a story in The Observer reported the Colombia-based company sought the eviction of peasant farmer families to develop a new oil palm plantation, reports the Guardian.

Australia may require labeling of products containing palm oil

2010-10-01T14:48:00Z

An Australian senator introduced a legislation that would require manufacturers to specify whether palm oil has been used in their food products, reports the Australian Associated Press. Presently food labeling laws in Australia allow companies to list palm oil as a generic "vegetable oil" on packaging even though it comes from a palm tree.

Eco-friendly palm oil initiative censures company linked to deforestation

2010-09-23T17:28:00Z

The Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body the sets standards for eco-friendly palm oil production, on Thursday said Indonesian palm oil producer Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) breached its sustainability criteria and faces expulsion, reports AFP.

Cargill to engage Indonesian supplier after audit confirms forest destruction

2010-08-27T17:56:00Z

Cargill will engage one of its major palm oil suppliers after an independent audit confirmed that the Indonesian company has been destroying rainforests and peatlands in Borneo to establish oil palm plantations.

Cargill backtracks on sustainability push for palm oil, says activist group

2010-08-26T23:32:00Z

Cargill has not suspended its relationship with a palm oil company recently exposed for misleading investors and buyers on its environmental transgressions, reports the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), an activist group campaigning against environmentally-damaging forms of palm oil production.

Fraud allegations against Indonesian palm oil giant widen, tarnishing auditors and sustainable palm oil initiative

2010-08-19T19:01:00Z

Sinar Mas, an Indonesian conglomerate whose holdings include Asia Pulp and Paper, a paper products brand, and PT Smart, a palm oil producer, was sharply rebuked Wednesday over a recent report where it claimed not to have engaged in destruction of forests and peatlands. At least one of its companies, Golden Agri Resources, may now face an investigation for deliberately misleading shareholders in its corporate filings.

Audit finds palm oil company destroyed peatlands, but not primary forest

2010-08-10T21:12:00Z

An environmental audit of palm oil company, PT SMART, found that the company had not cut primary rainforest, yet had destroyed carbon-rich peatlands; however the audit analyzed only 40 percent of PT SMART's holdings and investigated none of its plantations in New Guinea. A subsidiary of agricultural giant Sinar Mas, PT SMART has been accused in a number of reports by Greenpeace of both destroying high conservation value forests and draining peatlands. Greenpeace's reports caused both food giants Unilever and Nestle to drop PT SMART as a supplier of their palm oil, while Cargill stated it would wait to hear the results of the audit. Given the audit's results, both sides are claiming victory.

Longtime target of green groups, Cargill, to supply sustainably-certified palm oil to Unilever

2010-07-30T02:20:00Z

Agriculture giant Cargill has announced an agreement to supply Unilever with 10,000 metric tons of palm oil sustainably-certified from the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Cargill has often come under fire from green groups for being linked to the rainforest destruction. The Dutch-English company Unilever—the world's biggest buyer of palm oil—has been trying to move its palm oil sources away from deforestation with a goal of sourcing only 'sustainable' palm oil by 2015.

Indonesian people-not international donors or orangutan conservationists-will determine the ultimate fate of Indonesia's forests

2010-07-29T22:26:00Z

Many of the environmental issues facing Indonesia are embodied in the plight of the orangutan, the red ape that inhabits the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Orangutan populations have plummeted over the past century, a result of hunting, habitat loss, the pet trade, and human-ape conflict. Accordingly, governments, charities, and concerned individuals have ploughed tens of millions of dollars into orangutan conservation, but have little to show in terms of slowing or reversing the decline. The same can be said about forest conservation in Indonesia: while massive amounts of money have been put toward protecting and sustainable using forests, the sum is dwarfed by the returns from converting forests into timber, rice, paper, and palm oil. So orangutans—and forests—continue to lose out to economic development, at least as conventionally pursued. Poor governance means that even when well-intentioned measures are in place, they are often undermined by corruption, apathy, or poorly-designed policies. So is there a future for Indonesia's red apes and their forest home? Erik Meijaard, an ecologist who has worked in Indonesia since 1993 and is considered a world authority on orangutan populations, is cautiously optimistic, although he sees no 'silver bullet' solutions.