Sustainable palm oil and RSPO
Sustainable palm oil has been the topic of discussion among the members of the palm oil sector since 2003, the year when the players in the sector held the first meeting to set up is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil which was eventually formed a year later and registered in Zurich, Switzerland on April 8, 2004 as an association. It was created by private stakeholders or the so-called B to B (business to business) establishment as no governments were involved.
The principal objective of RSPO is “to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation within the supply chain and open dialog between its stakeholders.” The not-for-profit association will have members representing major players along the palm oil supply chain, namely the oil palm growers, palm oil processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental/nature conservation NGOs and social/development NGOs. The RSPO is a unique platform for pragmatic co-operation to contribute to the expansion of sustainably produced palm oil and its uses.
The application of RSPO standards is voluntary for its members, although its members are recently required to implement these standards and given a time limit to apply the standards. As of Nov. 25, 2010, RSPO members from Indonesia totaled 74, consisting palm oil growers, processors, traders and NGOs. The total members of the association as of Nov. 25, 2010 reached 500; they include:
Sustainable palm oil has been the topic of discussion among the members of the palm oil sector since 2003, the year when the players in the sector held the first meeting to set up is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil which was eventually formed a year later and registered in Zurich, Switzerland on April 8, 2004 as an association. It was created by private stakeholders or the so-called B to B (business to business) establishment as no governments were involved.
The principal objective of RSPO is “to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation within the supply chain and open dialog between its stakeholders.” The not-for-profit association will have members representing major players along the palm oil supply chain, namely the oil palm growers, palm oil processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental/nature conservation NGOs and social/development NGOs. The RSPO is a unique platform for pragmatic co-operation to contribute to the expansion of sustainably produced palm oil and its uses.
The application of RSPO standards is voluntary for its members, although its members are recently required to implement these standards and given a time limit to apply the standards. As of Nov. 25, 2010, RSPO members from Indonesia totaled 74, consisting palm oil growers, processors, traders and NGOs. The total members of the association as of Nov. 25, 2010 reached 500; they include:
* Banks and Investor (8)
* Consumer Goods
* Manufactures (99)
* Environmental or Nature Conservation Organization (NGOs) (12)
* Oil Palm Growers (84)
* Palm Oil Processors and Traders (160)
* Retailers (22)
* Social or Development Organization (NGOs) (9)
The organization actively tries to increase public awareness of the need for sustainable palm oil and the need to preserve the environment along in conjunction with palm plantation activities. But until now, there is a lack of consumer awareness about sustainable products, especially if the prices of these products are higher than the non-sustainable products.
The challenges for Indonesia’s palm oil
In recent years, Indonesia’s palm oil sector has faced various problems, including never-ending allegations by NGOs, the strict demands from the RSPO and conditions imposed by the EU. The EU has issued the EU Directive on Promotion of the use of energy from renewable resources, amending and subsequently repealing Directive 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (EU RED).
The RSPO has importantly ruled that any new plantation opening after 2007 is not allowed in primary forest and peat land and must protect the High Conservation Value, while the EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) has set criteria on the use of palm oil as feedstock for biofuel production.
The EU RED rules a new plantation for biofuel raw material (not applicable only for biodiesel from palm oil but for all types of biofuels) which is opened after the year 2008 should not come from lands containing high biodiversity and land containing a high carbon stock. The regulation is pretty tough as it uses the forest definition in accordance with the provisions of the IPCC. In addition, the EU has set a target to achieve GHG emission saving of 35 percent by 2017. By 2020, the GHG saving emission should reach 60 percent. Palm oil biodiesel cannot meet this requirement because the default emission saving value is only 19 percent.
According to an EU study, only two commodities are not included in the category of 35-percent saving emission: palm oil and soybean biodiesels.
The EU RED will cover many new criteria and requirements related with biodiversity, such as the high biodiversity grassland, the Land Use Change (LUC) and Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC), for which the standard will be added later. This is a tough challenge for the producers of biodiesel and raw materials producers for biodiesel, especially those made from oil palm.
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