Chester City’s Approach to Palm Oil A Model for Sustainable Commodities
- Chester City’s approach to palm oil is outstanding as it pushes for the use of sustainable palm oil rather than a boycott
- This approach is supported by global conservation groups like the IUCN which warned that ‘saying no to palm oil’ would only displace it with other more land-hungry crops.
- The debate on deforestation and palm oil has spilled into a wider arena where NGOs like FERN drive to include all deforestation caused by basic consumer products including coffee and beef.
Spurred on by the pledges to protect forests at COP26, an explosion of ESG pledges led to allegations of greenwashing. This was enough to get regulatory bodies to ramp up scrutiny of ESG pledges especially from the financial sector which is far removed from where the physical acts of deforestation are occurring. Despite the lack of control over what happens on the ground, ESG investments are projected by Bloomberg to be worth over $50 trillion by 2025 making up a third of total global assets under management.
To add further to the problems of importing only sustainable products, trade agreements like the one struck between the UK and Australia provides a loophole where Australian beef associated with deforestation gets a free pass under the trade agreement.
How should investors and consumers deal with this problem where beef that causes deforestation is sold in the market despite the UK government’s ambitious due diligence act to stop the imports of such products?
The obvious solution is in third party certification. One cannot assume that all Australian beef causes deforestation. There must be better producers that adhere to some sort of sustainable production in Australia that could qualify for third party certification. OBE Organic which touts itself as a group of Australian beef farmers producing organic and sustainable beef would surely meet the requirements of both ESG investors and British consumers if they are third party certified for sustainability.
There are numerous certification bodies for commodities like the Forest Stewardship Council for timber and numerous certifications for seafood and coffee which all strive to assure consumers and business that they are sustainably produced.
As for certified palm oil, different groups including the RSPO, the ISCC and Rainforest Alliance have all sought to establish themselves as the authoritative certification on sustainable palm oil.
Despite being pioneers in sustainability certification, all these schemes for sustainable timber, coffee, palm oil and cocoa have come under criticism for failing their objectives.
Yet as the UK looks to implement its due diligence requirements for corporate importers of these goods, it is the model provided by Chester Zoo and its approach towards palm oil that could provide the ultimate assurance of sustainability. As an independent group whose focus is on conservation, Chester Zoo has stood firm in its belief that sustainable palm oil is the only solution to saving forests and wildlife in the tropics. This stance which runs contradictory to the call to boycott palm oil has earned the zoo wide media coverage from the BBC to The Guardian. The unwavering support of the Chester Zoo for sustainable palm oil even in the onslaught of criticism against certified palm oil will prove to be the more constructive path towards saving wildlife in palm oil producing countries.
This position is shared by UK based conservation groups including Orangutan Appeal UK which has funded ground actions in Southeast Asia to save the orangutans. The Surrey based conservation group has played a dynamic role in saving orangutans especially in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
It is indeed the unflagging support of these conservation groups for sustainable palm oil that has inspired palm oil producing countries like Malaysia to add the force of legislation into saving the country’s biodiversity.
Armed with a recently implemented certification scheme under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil scheme, Malaysia has readied itself to prove that national certification schemes is the ultimate solution for both producer and consumer countries.
Numerous projects to protect and restore wildlife habitats in Malaysia have seen increased support from multinationals like Unilever and Nestle in partnership with Malaysian palm oil companies. The Million Tree Planting Campaign initiated by the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Fund along with reforestation projects including Cardiff University’s Danau Girang Field Project are adding to the efforts to ensure a sustainable future for biodiversity in Malaysia.
The variety of efforts to protect biodiversity in Malaysia can be credited to only one source for their inspiration: the conviction of conservation groups like Chester Zoo that palm oil can be produced sustainably.
As an early achiever, the MSPO is well positioned to address the concerns of groups like Global Witness which challenged the UK government to step up its efforts to clean up UK supply chains.
As a global pioneer in national certification schemes, the task ahead for the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil scheme to assure the survival of orangutans is easy enough when it has the full support of the government.
However, for the UK to have a meaningful impact on global biodiversity through its supply chains, the UK must extend its efforts to reduce imported deforestation by including everyday commodities like beef, leather, soy and cocoa.
UK citizens are encouraged to support this public petition by Global Witness which wants the new law to cover every major commodity associated with deforestation.
Published March 2022. CSPO Watch
How should investors and consumers deal with this problem where beef that causes deforestation is sold in the market despite the UK government’s ambitious due diligence act to stop the imports of such products?
The obvious solution is in third party certification. One cannot assume that all Australian beef causes deforestation. There must be better producers that adhere to some sort of sustainable production in Australia that could qualify for third party certification. OBE Organic which touts itself as a group of Australian beef farmers producing organic and sustainable beef would surely meet the requirements of both ESG investors and British consumers if they are third party certified for sustainability.
There are numerous certification bodies for commodities like the Forest Stewardship Council for timber and numerous certifications for seafood and coffee which all strive to assure consumers and business that they are sustainably produced.
As for certified palm oil, different groups including the RSPO, the ISCC and Rainforest Alliance have all sought to establish themselves as the authoritative certification on sustainable palm oil.
Despite being pioneers in sustainability certification, all these schemes for sustainable timber, coffee, palm oil and cocoa have come under criticism for failing their objectives.
Yet as the UK looks to implement its due diligence requirements for corporate importers of these goods, it is the model provided by Chester Zoo and its approach towards palm oil that could provide the ultimate assurance of sustainability. As an independent group whose focus is on conservation, Chester Zoo has stood firm in its belief that sustainable palm oil is the only solution to saving forests and wildlife in the tropics. This stance which runs contradictory to the call to boycott palm oil has earned the zoo wide media coverage from the BBC to The Guardian. The unwavering support of the Chester Zoo for sustainable palm oil even in the onslaught of criticism against certified palm oil will prove to be the more constructive path towards saving wildlife in palm oil producing countries.
This position is shared by UK based conservation groups including Orangutan Appeal UK which has funded ground actions in Southeast Asia to save the orangutans. The Surrey based conservation group has played a dynamic role in saving orangutans especially in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
It is indeed the unflagging support of these conservation groups for sustainable palm oil that has inspired palm oil producing countries like Malaysia to add the force of legislation into saving the country’s biodiversity.
Armed with a recently implemented certification scheme under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil scheme, Malaysia has readied itself to prove that national certification schemes is the ultimate solution for both producer and consumer countries.
Numerous projects to protect and restore wildlife habitats in Malaysia have seen increased support from multinationals like Unilever and Nestle in partnership with Malaysian palm oil companies. The Million Tree Planting Campaign initiated by the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Fund along with reforestation projects including Cardiff University’s Danau Girang Field Project are adding to the efforts to ensure a sustainable future for biodiversity in Malaysia.
The variety of efforts to protect biodiversity in Malaysia can be credited to only one source for their inspiration: the conviction of conservation groups like Chester Zoo that palm oil can be produced sustainably.
As an early achiever, the MSPO is well positioned to address the concerns of groups like Global Witness which challenged the UK government to step up its efforts to clean up UK supply chains.
As a global pioneer in national certification schemes, the task ahead for the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil scheme to assure the survival of orangutans is easy enough when it has the full support of the government.
However, for the UK to have a meaningful impact on global biodiversity through its supply chains, the UK must extend its efforts to reduce imported deforestation by including everyday commodities like beef, leather, soy and cocoa.
UK citizens are encouraged to support this public petition by Global Witness which wants the new law to cover every major commodity associated with deforestation.
Published March 2022. CSPO Watch
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