Why Sustainable Palm Oil is Problematic
The notion of “sustainable” palm oil is one most consumers can really get behind, unfortunately, there is still a long way to go before palm oil is truly sustainable. In this post we cover the reasons why sustainable palm oil is problematic. Read further about sustainable palm oil in our post, What You Need to Know About Sustainable Palm Oil.
Background on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
Back in 2004, in an effort to curb the unsustainable expansion of the palm oil industry and the devastation it’s causing to our environment, various stakeholders in the palm oil industry (growers, producers, retailers, manufactures, traders and NGOs) formed a voluntary not–for–profit association called the “Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil” (RSPO).
The RSPO’s stated objective is to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and stakeholder engagement. To achieve this, the RSPO established a set of global principles and criteria to be followed. Like transparency, compliance with local laws and regulations, environmental responsibility and conservation of natural resources.
Growers are then audited by independent bodies against these criteria and if found to be compliant they can then certify their palm oil plantations as RSPO–certified, allowing them and the companies who purchase their palm oil produce to use the RSPO logo.
Currently, this is the gold–standard in sustainable palm oil. For more recent coverage on the topic of whether “palm oil–free” is still a thing, read this article on Sustainable Jungle.
There has been much controversy over the use of palm oil, sustainable or not. Various arguments for and against the use of “sustainable palm oil” and RSPO certification are summarized below.
Arguments Against Sustainable Palm Oil & the RSPO
The Production of Sustainable Palm Oil Under The RSPO Is A Fiction
Greenpeace published a thoroughly well–researched yet damning report in 2013 into the current state of affairs. Some of the largest members of the RSPO who supposedly produce and sell ‘sustainable’ palm oil routinely flout the laws and rules which they are supposed to abide by. The result is that large companies who claim to only use sustainable palm oil in their products are in fact selling a lie to the public.
Palm Oil Auditing Firms May Be Corrupt
An in–depth and hard–hitting report published in 2015 by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Grassroots (EIAG) shows that the assessments undertaken by the auditing firms tasked with ensuring members of the RSPO are not destroying primary forests are substandard. Not only that, but there is strong evidence which indicates that they are colluding with plantation companies to conceal violations.
The report also states that the consequences of these actions are a proliferation of the destruction of the rain forests and biodiversity, entrenched social conflicts, human trafficking and death threats against anyone who tries to defend the environment. This is utterly depressing considering the RSPO and the auditing firms are essentially the last line of defense in the destruction of wildlife and rainforests in key areas.
The RSPO Has No Teeth
In a 2019 article written by the Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF), there is clear evidence that the RSPO cannot enforce its rules or properly sanction its large corporate members. In fact, in some rather black and white cases it appears that the RSPO even chooses not to enforce its own rules and regulations.
As a result, these organizations simply use the RSPO certification as a marketing gimmick to pay lip service to the public that they’re doing something about the problem, when in fact it couldn’t be further from the truth.
RSPO’s Rules & Regulations Are as Strict as The Most Conservative, Conflicted Members Allow
For example, the rules state that any forest that is not “high–value conservation forest” can be removed. This is an astoundingly low bar. After all, how anyone defines “high value” is open to interpretation.
Palm Oil Processing Is Pretty Complicated
The process of palm oil extraction, processing and distribution is very complex and non–transparent. There are four different certification categories for RSPO. Two are traceable to a single or multiple certified sustainable source: Identity Preserved and Segregated. The third, Mass Balance, is a mix of sustainable palm oil and ordinary palm oil. In this case, a consumer can never be sure that whatever they’re buying is truly sustainable.
And the fourth category, known as GreenPalm, has no requirement for the supply chain to be monitored. The purchaser simply buys a GreenPalm Certificate which is used to subsidize the certified grower and offset their continued use of conventional palm oil.
It’s easy to see why this category in particular has been labelled as “greenwashing”. Further reading on what greenwashing means. Unfortunately, the sale of GreenPalm Certificates still accounts for the majority of the physical sales (page 47 of the RSPO 2016 Impact Report) of certified palm oil.
Palm Oil Propagates Far And Wide
There are over 200 ingredients that contain palm oil. Given poor labeling, that makes it almost impossible for consumers to know what exactly it is they’re buying.
Arguments for Sustainable Palm Oil and the RSPO
Substituting Palm Oil for Other Vegetable Oils Is Not Ideal
According to the RSPO itself this solution is just not practical. Consumers are not likely to stop demanding things like ice cream, soap or ready meals. The vast majority of these need vegetable oil to be made—and palm oil is the most productive vegetable oil crop on the planet.
Alternatives are sunflower oil, or rapeseed, or coconut. But palm oil is far more productive, yielding up to ten times more oil from the same amount of land. Put it another way: ten times more land would be needed to grow these other crops to get the same amount of oil.
Palm Oil Creates Jobs
The palm oil industry provides jobs to those in producing countries which reduces poverty. Ceasing production of palm oil would create significant social and economic problems for those benefitting from the industry.
Palm Oil Is Not Going Anywhere
Animal rights movement Their Turn made this argument back in 2015. Asia and the Middle East account for the largest chunk of palm oil consumption but the demand for sustainable palm oil and the protection of tropical rain forests is driven by the West. If the West stops consuming palm oil then companies would no longer have the incentive to purchase it from sustainable growers.
Without this incentive, the palm oil industry would essentially go back to its lawless pre–2004 and pre–RSPO state and the disappearance of our rainforests would accelerate until there is nothing left and we all die horrific Climate Change–related deaths! Too dramatic? Sorry, I’m writing this late night…
Condemning The Whole Palm Oil Industry Is Unrealistic
In light of list items 1–3, it is very clear that the gold standard of sustainable palm oil is not as credible as its marketing may suggest. In fact, it is really just lip service, which in the context of the drive for growth and profit it is not surprising.
This is no more evident than in the fine print of Unilever’s journey to 100% Sustainable Palm Oil, which pledges, by virtue of the New York Declaration on Forests, to end forest loss by 2030. It seems the best we can hope and plan for is sustainable palm oil.
The Solution to the Certified Palm Oil Issue
There is no silver bullet here. When it comes to commerce and its impact on environmental and social issues, there are never easy answers. It seems the best solution is to avoid palm oil and sustainable palm oil. It isn’t that sustainable palm oil is not part of the solution, it is the most efficient oil seed crop. It’s just that the current demand on palm oil should really be reduced.
It is also not always necessary to have palm oil or similar ingredients in consumer products. E.g.: peanut butter tastes so much better with just a single ingredient (peanuts) than it does with palm oil, sugar, salt, etc. added.
In the short term and until truly sustainable palm oil can be absolutely guaranteed, the most effective action we can take is to choose consumer products (cosmetics, food etc.) that do not contain any palm oil. By doing this, we as consumers are not only sending an unequivocal message that we won’t accept unethical products, but we’re also giving the rainforests a bit of respite and an (albeit small) chance.
Sources:
What does RSPO Mass Balance mean? – Palsgaard
https://www.palsgaard.com/en/responsibility/responsible-products/rspo-sg-certified-emulsifiers/what-is-the-rspo/what-does-rspo-mass-balance-mean
What is Mass Balance Sourcing? | Rainforest Alliance
https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/certification/what-is-mass-balance-sourcing/
MOI Foods – Mass Balanced Sustainability
http://www.moifoods.com/index.php/sustainability/mass-balanced-sustainability
MOI International – Mass Balanced Sustainability
https://www.moiaust.com/index.php/sustainability/mass-balanced-sustainability
What is sustainable palm oil? – BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49553703
RSPO Supply Chains | RSPO – Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
https://www.rspo.org/certification/supply-chains
Is Sustainable Palm Oil Really Sustainable?
https://www.sustainablejungle.com/sustainable-living/sustainable-palm-oil-solution/
PALM OIL SUPPLY CHAINS – PALM OIL INVESTIGATIONS
https://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/palm-oil-supply-chains.html