RSPO palm oil linked to deforestation, Greenpeace claims

Palm oil production in Indonesia was responsible for a quarter of the country’s forest loss in 2009-2011, a new Greenpeace International mapping analysis has shown. In addition, the analysis shows that significant deforestation took place in concessions owned by members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry’s largest sustainability organisation.

Even more damning, Greenpeace says, is the revelation that RSPO concessions accounted for 39% of fire hotspots on palm oil concessions in Riau between January and June 2013.

Since June, Greenpeace has contacted more than 250 palm oil consumer companies to ask how they ensure their supply chains are not linked to forest destruction. Most replies indicate that companies rely solely on the RSPO to meet any sustainability commitments they may have. However, Greenpeace says the RSPO is not fit for this purpose.

“In Australia, many of the large food and grocery manufacturers, including the retailers, have commitments to source 100% RSPO-certified palm oil by 2015,” said Reece Turner, Campaigner with Greenpeace Australia. “These companies and the household brands we find on our supermarket shelves cannot rely on the RSPO to guarantee they are not linked to forest destruction.”

According to Greenpeace, traders such as the prominent RSPO member Wilmar mix palm oil from responsible producers indiscriminately with palm oil from areas of deforestation and destruction of wildlife habitats and peatland.

“The only solution for palm oil consumers and producers is to go beyond the RSPO - as some members are doing already. This is the challenge we pose to the industry. Brands must find out where their palm oil comes from and provide guarantees to consumers that forest destruction is not making its way into our everyday products,” said Turner.

“The next Australian Government can help consumers and the forests of the region by requiring that palm oil and indeed all vegetable oils are labelled as recommended by the 2011 Blewett Review of Food Labelling Report.”

According to official Ministry of Forestry maps, Indonesia lost 1.24 million hectares of forest between 2009 and 2011 - equivalent to 620,000 hectares each year.

The Greenpeace report, ‘Certifying Destruction’, can be found here.