A SPOD reflection

On May 22nd 2024, over 270 people linked to the vegetable and palm oil industry gathered at the Sustainable Palm Oil Dialogue 2024 under the banner "Inclusive Pathways to Climate Smart solutions" to jointly discuss how to bring sustainability in the sector to the next level. 23 external speakers contributed to 3 plenary- , 4 expert- and 3 break out sessions. The topics ranged from Life Cycle Assessment and Regenerative Agriculture to the role of the financial industry and the implementability of the EUDR. At the end of the day, one thing became abundantly clear: the palm oil sector is not what you think it is.

The invited keynote speaker, Minou Schillings, was not afraid to challenge the audience. Her message that people and businesses are locked in a "mono" way of thinking, not by their own choosing but due to the way we have set up our educational systems and our society was thought provoking. She challenged the audience to be inspired by living systems in agriculture, business and even personal leadership. She challenged us to be in awe of nature; to cherish the inherent value of every living organism and to realise that we are mortgaging the future of our children if we do not continue to work on sustainable transformation, acknowledging that it is a process where the goal posts will always continue to shift.

In the plenary sessions we heard impact stories from upstream and downstream companies who are working towards carbon neutrality by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement. We saw examples of producing companies who realise that producing low carbon palm oil would put them ahead of the curve and we were reminded of the importance of achieving a fair and inclusive green transition.

At the end of the day we had the honour of being joined by the European Commission who outlined the challenges still ahead for the timely implementation of EUDR. A shared sense of urgency was palpable as companies laid out the difficulties of complying within the set timeline, especially with the guidance documents still lacking. But contrary to recent sounds coming from the public sector, the companies did not push for a delay of the implementation. As one participant said: "one way or the other we will make it happen".

And after a full day of moderation, that was the feeling I was left with: The palm oil industry fully understands the need to uphold the 2050 Paris Agreement commitments; the sector is willing to take on the challenge and after 20 years of voluntary arrangements it is fully on board to comply with legislation which will push it to the next step as long as that legislation is inclusive, implementable and creates a level playing field. As one colleague said: "the governments are joining our party, not the other way around."

In a time in which we see nationalism and populism on the rise in many European countries.; in which formerly progressive European countries seem to have deleted the word sustainability from their policy documents; and with an election around the corner that is poised to give us a more polarised and divided European parliament, it is the private sector that is now carrying the banner of sustainability.

Perhaps not just because they are in awe of nature or because they don't want to mortgage their children's future. Perhaps it is because the private sector wants a level playing field; because it has a business horizon that stretches longer than the 4 years of the parliamentary cycle; or simply because it still wants to make profit 100 years from now. Whatever the reasons are; it is clear that the the businesses understand their responsibility to be the carbon neutral engine behind the transformation of our global supply chains.

Now there are still many challenges to tackle. And paper progress at a European HQ, is not the same as improving the situation on the ground. But I leave Brussels invigorated and hopeful, knowing that in times of political retreat from the sustainable battle ground, the people who need to do the work on the ground are more committed than ever to make sure we work hard to uphold our responsibility towards future generations!

Thank you to all speakers, experts, participants, colleagues, tech team, hotel staff and everyone who contributed to making SPOD 2024 a great succes! I hope to see you next year at SPOD 2025 in ....

Ruben Brunsveld