D’Cruz (back, second right) posing with newly RSPO-certified palm oil smallholders from various countries.
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) certification is quickly gaining recognition globally, with 4.5 million hectares of oil palm plantations now RSPO certified.
Members of the organiations are also actively engaging with palm smallholders to better educate them on the benefits of sustainable palm production.
In his opening speech at the RSPO Annual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RT2022), newly minted chief executive officer Joseph D’Cruz said: “The RSPO remains one of the highest and strictest certification standards in agriculture.
“Together, we have certified roughly 4.5 million hectares of land around the world. Of this area, we have conserved and protected over 300,000 hectares as part of our production landscape.
“Since 2015, we have prevented greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to nearly 400,000 cars being driven annually.
“The RSPO smallholder support fund has directed over US$4 million to support thousands of smallholders across 12 coutnries and we have ensured that half a million workers in estates and mills have their rights better protected through the standards we have instituted.”
In the years ahead, he pointed out that RSPO will be redoubling its efforts to continue to chart a sustainable path for the palm sector.
It aims to demonstrate how palm oil production can be an important contributor to ‘net zero’, to show how palm production can benefit millions of rural families across the developing world and to prove that a well-managed oil palm plantation can be a crucial contributor to species conservation and biodiversity.
On this, D’Cruz urged cooperation and further partnerships with more stakeholders in the industry.
“We have helped to transform 20 per cent of the market but the other 80 per cent are essential if we are to have the impact we aspire to.
“That’s why we will be building stronger partnerships, with national schemes that are essential to establish sustainability as the norm in the production landscapes, with traders, CGMs, retailers and financial institutions that are essential to increase demand for sustainable palm products, particularly in emerging markets like India, China, and Indonesia, as well as with producers, smallholders, processors and buyers who are not yet part of this sustainability journey.”
RSPO Board of Governors co-chairs Anne Rosenbarger and Datuk Carl Bek-Nielsen also called for a unified response to maximise the sector’s potential to sustainably transform the palm oil value chain.
“At the time when the global community is demanding real and viable solutions to save our increasingly warming planet, RSPO has shown that it plays an active role in harnessing the positive impacts of sustainable palm oil production, leading to sustainable development.
“Our efforts and transformation drive must continue, as change is a necessity for all of us.
“While sustainability is a shared responsibility, it requires individual change – if we are to cross the finish line together and make an impact, we are duty bound to take on a greater level of ownership and accept that there is always room for improvement,” they said in a press statement.
Meanwhile, at the event, which centred around the theme ‘Scaling up the Sustainable Palm Oil Value Chain Through Collective Action’, the RSPO 2022 Impact Report was also launched.
The report highlights several key achievements over the last nearly two decades since RSPO’s inception which include its growth from three countries to 21 countries.
An estimated half a million workers in estates and mills around the world are now represented under the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) through certification.