Clockwise from far left: the Carey Island planta- tion; the palm tree’s fruit; Syed Mahdhar Syed Hussain, senior vice president for sustainability, Sime Darby; common barn owls are used as natu- ral pest control; a worker at Carey Island
And there have been pockets of positive activity where palm oil profits have been used to finance poverty alleviation programmes, particularly in Africa. But producers have been accused of a number of human-rights violations over the years – from low pay and poor working conditions to theft of land and even murder.
The palm oil sector is undeniably trying
to change its image. Many of the major play- ers in the market are now involved in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an initiative established in 2004 that brings together producers, processors, consumer goods firms, retailers, investors and NGOs to promote the wider use of palm oil that has been produced sustainably using global stand- ards. The RSPO has devised a framework of principles and guidelines to which companies that want to be certified as green growers must adhere. It has had its opponents, many of which claim the RSPO’s demands do not go far enough, but currently it is the best tool available for driving action.
In 2008, Unilever, which is a member of
RSPO and the largest buyer of palm oil in the world, pledged to use only palm oil that has been certified as sustainable – by ensur- ing that the large companies and smallholders that supply it convert to greener production processes – by 2015. Since then, a lot of com- panies have followed suit. Currently, 9% of
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all palm oil produced worldwide has come from RSPO-certified sources. “Yes, we still have a long way to go. But this is the time to achieve a breakthrough in global demand for certified sustainable palm oil,” says Jan Kees Vis, who is responsible for sustainable sourc- ing development at Unilever. And thanks to a new RSPO label, retailers will soon start to be able to let their customers know which products contain.
“There is a growing awareness among con- sumers that palm oil is a key ingredient in their everyday products. And consumer goods producers and retailers will start using the RSPO trademark as ingredients using certified sustainable palm oil become avail- able, to demonstrate that their products are the responsible option,” says Belina Howell from the Retailers’ Palm Oil Group. But what does sustainable palm oil pro- duction look like? And is it even possible to achieve?
was in Malaysia to meet one of the compa- nies attempting to position itself as a sav- iour of the industry. Borne out of a govern- ment-initiated merger of Sime Darby, Golden Hope Plantations and Kumpulan Guthrie, Sime Darby today stands as the world’s larg- est listed oil palm plantation player, produc- ing 6% of total global output on crude palm oil (around 2.4M tonnes). By the end of this
I
year, all of the company’s operating units across Malaysia and Indonesia will have been certified to RSPO standards. On the journey towards becoming a responsible producer, the company is steps ahead. And it is also keen to point out some of the positive aspects of palm oil cultivation that the mainstream press often fails to highlight.
For example, despite the area of land used
for palm oil growing eight-fold in the past 40 years, oil palm is the most efficient oilseed crop in the world. One hectare of plantation is capable of producing up to ten times more oil than other oilseed crops, such as soya bean, sunflower or rapeseed. Some of the most efficient growers can achieve yields as high as eight tonnes of oil per hectare per year. The average yield of 4.14 tonnes per hectare per year outperforms the average 0.69 for rape- seed, 0.53 for sunflower and 0.37 for soybean. And here are a few more facts: in 2009, oil palm accounted for 4.8% of land use for global oilseed cultivation but managed to produce 30% of the worldwide output of vegetable oils and fats. Of the global oilseed planted area of 240M hectares, Malaysian oil palm accounted for just 1.9%. Yet, this 1.9% of Malaysia’s land area was able to supply 11% of global output, accounting for around 25% of Malaysia export trade in oils and fats in 2009. As these statistics show, the palm tree is certainly a hardworking crop.
Sustainable Business | Sustainable Palm Oil | June 2011 | 3
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