I agree that it’s the best we’ve got at the moment and it has the potential to do a lot of good, but currently it is being misused and it seems that the RSPO does more to hush up what companies do wrong rather than expose them and push them to change.

To answer your question, obviously the alternative is not to all rally behind uncertified palm oil, or to demand that production cease altogether. I think the point environmentalists are trying to get across is that what is deemed by the RSPO as ‘certified’ palm oil is a product of compromise and negotiation and is in the end so watered down that it is probably not much better than the uncertified kind. Meanwhile, companies are able to use the RSPO certification as good PR.

The RSPO is at least making an effort to change the practices of palm oil companies in the right direction, including halting all clearing of High Conservation Value Forests. Supporters of the RSPO also support strong governance and strong laws. But, let’s face it–changing laws takes time, and often even if strong laws exist, they are not enforced. You can not blame it for being voluntary because the only thing that is not voluntary is the law and currently, unfortunately, the law is behind forest clearance by palm oil producers.

In the meantime, a faster way to instigate change is to push the market to demand change–and RSPO is one tool through which we can do this. I agree that the RSPO needs to be more transparent in how it handles its grievances. But this problem alone should not negate the entire organization.

I would ask the author, what is the alternative to supporting RSPO? Telling companies to buy palm oil from that is not certified? Telling companies not to buy palm oil at all? Unfortunately if you vote for the second option, then you should realize that only a small percentage of palm oil goes to the EU or other western countries. Most stays in Asia, so if you wanted to change things you would need to get palm oil users all over Asia to refuse to buy. Good luck.

Let’s all join together in making the RSPO as strong and transparent as it possibly can be because it’s currently the best option we’ve got!

The palm oil and timber companies are quickly destroying the land and annihilating the biodiversity of Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua…

One powerless, voiceless victim of the onslaught is the gentle orangutan, which shares 97% of its DNA with humans. These majestic creatures are critically endangered in the wild because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations.

Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!