The morning after...SPOD 2023

Touching down at Arlanda Airport at midnight, I knew that I would want to write a short piece on the Sustainable Palm Oil Dialogue (SPOD) 2023, that I just left behind. But I wasn’t sure what it would be about. What would be the main feeling I would wake up with? What would be the word that would nestle in my brain during the night and that would be the dominant feeling in the morning? Would it be “relief”, “hope”, “confusion”? It turned out to be something very different. The word I woke up with was #palmoilpride. And here is why…

With a completely full house, SPOD gathered almost 300 participants to discuss the implementation of the EUDR and its consequences for the sustainable palm oil sector. We discussed the regulation from many different angles. Sessions about smallholder inclusion; data and traceability; landscape approaches and the effects on the oleochemical sector. But also topics as human rights and the interplay of the EUDR with other EU regulations were highlighted on the main stage.

And whilst many issues still remain (risk of smallholder exclusion due to cut and run; the risk of leakage to other international markets with no net positive effect on deforestation and the risk of pushing risks to other commodities to name a few), I could not help but notice a significant shift in the change of tone of the discussion compared to only a few months ago.

Listening to the discussions it became clear that, when it comes to the EUDR, the industry has arrived at the fifth stage of the Kuebler-Ross Grief Cycle: Acceptance. And whilst the first four stages (denial, anger, bargaining and depression) are characterized by negative emotions such as confusion; shock; fear; frustration; and a feeling of being overwhelmed; the final stage is one of rebirth, energy and creating a new path forward.

For me, SPOD 2023 was characterized by a feeling of: It is what it is, now let’s make it work. In this feeling there was a sense of community and a sense of wanting to make the impossible, possible. One participant even articulated this in a reference to the great European, former Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel, by saying: “Wir schaffen dass!”

So why #palmoilpride?

I was born in Colombia (Latin America’s largest palm oil producer), grew up in Indonesia (the world largest palm oil producer) and have two European passports (Dutch and Swedish).?

The Colombian in me is proud because I see how the upcoming producing regions are leap frogging some of the issues the traditional countries have struggled with and are managing to avoid the deforestation traps, putting themselves in the fast lane for access to the EU market.

My Indonesian heritage is proud because I know the amazing progress this country has made, especially in the last years in the fight against deforestation, reaching the lowest levels in decades. And because I respect it’s right to socio-economic development and understand its struggle to balance that with the environmental requirements put on it under the pressure of the possibility of losing market access to an important market.

The European in me is proud because EUDR is the first time in history that a major geographical region in the world, consisting of 27 independent nations, says: we want to stop our own contribution to global deforestation and we will enforce that through legislation. Even if the road to successful implementation is winding and the risks of unwanted consequences are real, this is a paradigm shift that should be celebrated.

But mostly I am proud to be part of this sustainable palm oil community. A community that understands that progress doesn’t come overnight and is not always recognized but that keeps on going. A community that understands that the reality is not black and white. A community that works on the intersection of food security, nutrition & health and global sustainability. A community that understands that Due Diligence is not a result but a process. A process of painstaking work where the needs of some need to be balanced by the needs of others. And where there is no such thing as a 100% guarantee, but where everyone strives to be better.

And finally I am very proud of the combined team of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) , IDH , Forum Nachhaltiges Palm?l (FONAP) and Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains Initiative that brought all these people together. Because in the end, change is not achieved by legislation and it is not done in large steps. It is the result of people coming together. People making an effort to understand each other’s perspectives and jointlymuddling through to the next milestone.

Looking back with #palmoilpride the morning after I also think about:

Sophia Gnych ; highlighting the importance of the external perspective of risk in due diligence with a simple but beautiful metaphor in an eloquent and strong keynote address.

Indra Van Gisbergen ; putting our meeting in a larger perspective with her reference to the 10 years of the IPCC report. ?

Dr. Torben Erbrath; giving us hope that the Green Claims proposal will mean the end of No-Palm oil claims

Olivier Tichit ; who transparently illustrates the contradiction of the EURD between its ambition and the result on the ground, by forcing them to do what they do not want to do, i.e. to exclude smallholders.

Nazrin Huseinzade ; who puts the finger exactly on the right spot when she verbalizes clearly and eloquently what the main risk is of EUDR when it comes to human rights: an incentive for companies to not want to see or not report transparently on their human rights risks.

And many other moments…all in one day

We all know the challenges. But I am convinced that as a community we will now leave the Grief Cycle behind us and together muddle through to the next successful milestone.

And I for one cannot wait to see what that will be!

Ruben Brunsveld

DPt. Director EMEA / RSPO