Sustainable palm oil has been a key focus for industry so far in 2014, with the ingredient and its derivatives present in 70% of cosmetics products on our shelves.
While it is near-on impossible to imagine a cosmetics world without palm oil, it seems the industry and consumer goods in general are getting behind the movement to support a more sustainable future.
The latest announcement from GreenPalm marks an important landmark for the organisation and affirms the programme’s role as a facilitator for change within the palm oil industry.
Key role
“Certificate trading has a key role to play in the journey towards global palm oil sustainability,” says Darrel Webber, RSPO Secretary General.
“It enables all users of palm oil, regardless of their location and what derivatives they use, to play their part. It is also the only supply chain option that provides a mechanism for manufacturers and retailers to make direct payments to RSPO-certified growers.”
GreenPalm, otherwise known as the Book & Claim supply chain option, directly supports RSPO-certified growers because it bypasses the supply chain.
It states that manufacturers can effectively reinforce sustainable palm production at its source, enabling growers to earn a premium for utilising sustainable farming methods.
“This is particularly important for independent smallholders,” continues Webber. “In Indonesia and Malaysia, two of the world’s largest oil palm producers, smallholders account for as much as 33% of the output.”
“However, they rarely have direct access to large multinational buyers committed to sustainable palm oil, selling instead to their local mill."
Still growing
Since 2008, GreenPalm membership has grown to over 800 registered manufacturers, retailers and certified growers. Collectively, RSPO-certified palm growers have directly earned premiums of over $73 million over the past six years.
The programme allows manufacturers to off-set their palm oil, palm kernel oil (PKO) and palm kernel expeller (PKE) use by buying GreenPalm certificates from growers, representing an equivalent volume that has been produced in line with RSPO principles and criteria.