Business Limitations for Conventional Palm Oil – Only a Matter of Time.
This short article explains why at ExpertsInstitut we acknowledge and offer advice and implementation services also concerning the RSPO standard. We know that this is not an eco-label, however we believe this is one step in the right direction in an increasingly complex debate. We are all part of this sustainability crisis - we might as well deal with it...
Business Limitations for Conventional Palm Oil – Likely Only a Matter of Time
If You and I and every individual were aware of the impact their daily food consumption or use of cosmetics has on the climate change, a rather massive ripple would shake up scores of cultures and societies - even more than what is already going on. Palm oil / palm kernel oil is not only used in consumer goods, it is even part of the most basic global necessities such as for example fuel.
And if Your company produces, sources or even processes palm oil or palm kernel oil or materials that contain it, the day is coming closer when You will have to justify Your business altogether before the collective conscience of Your national population, or even have to face regulatory action against Yourself. The truck of sustainability simply will not back up any more. And palm oil or palm kernel oil are an item in the continued and fierce discussion on tending or even saving this planet.
And noone in the oil palm business – direct or indirect – will stand without doing something about it. Examples for the palm oil debate are many, and the legislative in the EU alone is already on it. It is no doubt coming (see examples below)!
Solving the Issue is Possible, but with a Price
Admittedly only a stop of palm oil demand from consumers and the consumer goods industry could make this issue truly go away. But there is a long way to go until then. Alternatives for palm oil and its industrial use must be found, or the culture and climate in the global community must abstain from palm oil containing products. And neither one will be an easy task. It is possible that some industrial branches may reconsider their products′ added values to the consumer market and to life per se altogether.
But none of this may happen at any extreme end on the continuum of options to deal with the current palm oil issue (and it is(!) an issue!).
And yet: It is obvious that palm oil production i.e. plantation cannot continue the way it was. The torch of sustainabilitiy was put to it a long time ago already. But the issue is that so many businesses, employments, engery and consumer demands depend on it that there is no easy stopping or even decreasing of palm oil use, not even to mention the issue of finding any suitable replacement for it.
For palm oil to not be consumed as much any more there would need to be affordable and well accepted alternatives. Humans simply won′t stop use and consume what they are readily offered in stores - without any motivator: men won′t stop using shaving foam just like that - and women most certainly will not all of a sudden condemn make-up and skincare (and men won′t make it that easy for the women anyway). So since a change of mindset among consumers alone would take rather long, a much more effective improvement of the issue can and has to come from the industry that uses palm oil for its consumer products.
Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil and the RSPO Standard
Making the use of palm oil sustainable is not entirely impossible. But it no doubt will come at a cost. There are ways to contribute by improving how palm oil and all of its socio-economical ramifications are currently handled.
领英推荐
One of the world′s first more active and public steps toward a more responsible comsumption of palm oil products was initiated by the RSPO.
This Roundtable?on?Sustainable?Palm Oil has issued a voluntary scheme of measures for producers, processors, suppliers, and consumer product manufacterers and brand owners concerning palm and palm kernel oil.
What the standard does is that it binds all supply chain players who join the standard zu certain rules if they want to label their products with the RSPO-label. The label comes in some variants, depending on whether a company uses only fully RSPO-traceable palm oil or whether it only uses this partially. Finally the label also depends on whether a company keeps RSPO-grade palm oil completely separate from conventional palm oil, or not - this concerns products′ and booking separation. And this has supply chain implications: if I want to label my food, cosmetic or any other product with RSPO, then I really need to get on board suppliers who are also RSPO certified. So it coerces RSPO all the way back to the actual oil palm plantage if You will.
But what comes with it?
The RSPO-Label is Misunderstood toward Two Extremes
The first extreme: RSPO may look like an eco-label - but it is not! What is important to understand is that the label does not make palm oil or palm kernel oil dissappear from consumer products. Neither does it necessarily help the rain forrest to be freed from oil palm fields, and it most certainly does not claim that due to RSPO the rain forrest is essentially re-established. It does not even mean that growing oil palms will be done fully in line with e.g. modern thinking of organic farming.
The other extreme: RSPO does make a difference! Although the RSPO-label may not mean what its outward greenish apperance might visually suggest (and this is a point of critique), it is incorrect to say that the RSPO-standard does not make any difference. What it does is that by its measures concerning the way oil palms are grown and how the oil is harvested it puts a limit to the environmental and socio-economical damage the can be done (and is(!) done) if profit and extortion are the only things considered and pursued otherwise. And that is(!) an improvement! Thus this standard is in line with the our overall ExpertsInstitut orientation in the area of business and sustainability consulting.
And thus far it has been our experience that RSPO is very strict when it comes to companies keeping in with the standard′s requirements. They do not just hand the certification to You for nothing.
Why RSPO may Make Sense for Your Company
In spite of the sometimes overestimated or simnply misunderstood nature of the current RSPO-standard, this might become even more prominent in the future, and RSPO may at some point play a role in assisting more and official regulatory standards in coming into being. So dealing with it now or considering its implementation now might be a wise investment in the future of Your company. The push for more transparent handling of supply chains is not just now coming - it is here. The question is simply on what part of the bell curve You and Your company will join the race. And for most supply chain participants, the RSPO-standard can be implemented with a little extra help - for example from us - in a rather small amount of time.
Thanks for reading. We hope this was a helpful pointer for You.