Sustainable palm oil
GreenPalm, a palm oil certificate-trading programme, is calling on European businesses to lead the drive towards inclusivity in the sustainable palm industry. The move comes in preparation for its appearance at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) European Roundtable, 3 June in Schiphol (#EURT2015).
GreenPalm urges delegates at the RSPO’s annual European conference to consider smallholders, independent mills and other producers without a route to export, when making their commitments to ethical sourcing.
Of the four RSPO supply chain options, Book and Claim, operated by GreenPalm, enables any size of palm oil grower to earn certificates for their certified fresh fruit bunches and trade them with manufacturers and retailers. The producer earns a premium, the buyer can claim its support, and the certified oil enters the general palm oil supply.
GreenPalm manager Bob Norman says, “This issue is not just about the big multinationals, and recent news stories highlighted this.
“For the palm industry to achieve 100% transformation everyone involved must play a part, from the smallholder in Thailand farming three or four hectares to the private-label manufacturer using 10 tonnes a year, and from the plantations and mills owned by multinational giants to the global brands using hundreds of thousands of tonnes.
“Independent smallholders and non-integrated mills, whose product is consumed locally and will never be exported, can play a part only if they can earn a premium for the costs and commitment required to be RSPO-certified.
“Smallholders contribute 30-40% of the palm oil produced globally. In Thailand, whose capital Bangkok is the venue for the RSPO’s annual roundtable summit in November, the figure is 70%; in Latin America 80%.
“GreenPalm enables those parties to be involved in transforming the palm oil industry, and it also offers buyers traceability back to a specific, chosen producer and soon back to mill level for integrated producers.”
