The palm oil industry is not shy of attacks from environmentalists. On the other hand, the sustainable palm oil industry has shed light on attackers that palm oil can be a progressive and sustainable resource to the world.
To put it into perspective, Nestle has put up a ban on all palm oil-based products in the EU. Furthermore, damaging the publicity of palm oil even more.
Jeremy Goon, executive director of PPB Oil Palms Bhd and a speaker at the Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar 2021, claimed that sustainable palm oil is in good hands.
Even if the EU has banned certain products, other markets are still receiving imports for sustainable palm oil.
He urged brands to not worry about the sustainability of palm oil. This was due to the massive monitoring done by publicly accessed satellites.
Customers are also aware of the deforestation caused by the expansion of palm oil whether it is legal or illegal.
These kinds of transparency are in line with the sustainability trajectory in the palm oil industry which are:
- RSPO established in 2004
- First RSPO certificate awarded in 2007
- ISPO scheme launched in 2011
- Individual NDPE commitments started in 2013
- MSPO scheme launched in 2014
- Publishing of sourcing mills information by individual companies in 2015
- Launch of grievances by individual companies in 2015
- The convergence of HCS methodology for deforestation in 2016
- Jurisdictional Approach certification system and standard introduced under the RSPO in 2019
“Malaysia palm production is 19.7 million tonnes and 17 million tonnes of it is Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO). In 2020, multinational corporations are requesting more sustainable volumes of palm oil,” said the director.
