Engaging Companies on Palm Oil Deforestation
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Palm oil is widely used in products such as food, household goods and biofuels. The surge in demand for the commodity in the last decade has exposed companies reliant on palm oil to reputational risks over the devastating effects of palm oil plantations on forests and habitats. Facing pressure from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments, many palm oil buyers and producers have made public commitments to eliminate deforestation from their palm oil supply chains by 2020. Notably, 24 of the top 50 buyers and three of the top six producers have set 2020 zero-deforestation goals.
Most of the palm oil buyers and producers intend to ensure zero deforestation in their palm oil supply chains via certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). But not all RSPO programs are equal: for example, Identity Preserved is the only certification that requires traceability to plantations.
We identified RSPO’s Identity Preserved and Segregated plans as indications of low risk of deforestation practices. 5 We evaluated companies’ progress against 2020 zero-deforestation targets based on the volume of Identity Preserved- or Segregated-certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) that companies purchase or produce.
