In April 2016, indigenous leaders travelled from Colombia, Indonesia, Liberia, and Peru to Europe, calling for action on human rights violations and land grabbing associated with the expansion of oil palm plantations in their countries.
RSPO-Watch
There are 17 posts tagged RSPO-Watch (this is page 1 of 2).
SGS Malaysia’s RSPO accreditation was terminated because SGS Malaysia carried out audits while it was suspended
On 31 December 2015, Accreditation Services International terminated SGS Malaysia’s accreditation with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. REDD-Monitor wrote about this in February 2016: “Transparency and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil: Why was SGS Malaysia’s accreditation terminated?” Neither RSPO nor ASI were willing to explain why SGS Malaysia’s accreditation had been terminated.
Transparency and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil: Why was SGS Malaysia’s accreditation terminated?
On 31 December 2015, Accreditation Services International terminated SGS Malaysia’s RSPO accreditation. REDD-Monitor asked RSPO for further details about this. “We will not announce any further details,” Jan van Driel, RSPO Head of Certification, replied.
Who watches the watchmen? RSPO’s greenwashing and fraudulent reports exposed
A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Grassroots exposes serious problems in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s certification system. Auditing firms that are supposed to monitor palm oil companies’ operations are colluding with the companies to hide violations.
Modern slavery found in RSPO member Felda Global Ventures’ oil palm plantations
Shampoo, margarine, lipstick, ice cream, deodorant, detergents, crisps, chocolates, toothpaste, pizza dough, bread, biofuel, soap, instant noodles. The list of products containing palm oil is long.
Deforestation in West Papua: The role of PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya, The Nature Conservancy, REDD, RSPO, and Wilmar
PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJ) is an Indonesian palm oil company, that is clearing forest in West Papua to make way for an oil palm plantation. George Tahija is a commissioner of PT ANJ and a member of both The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Indonesia Chapter Advisory Board and the TNC Asia Pacific Council.
PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya’s ongoing forest destruction for palm oil in West Papua
PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJ) is an Indonesian palm oil company, with a land bank of more than 140,000 hectares. Of this the plantable area is 96,528 hectares, of which 44,143 hectares has so far been planted. The company is currently clearing forest in West Papua to make way for a further 40,500 hectares of oil palm plantations.
Equatorial Palm Oil’s landgrab in Liberia
A British company, Equatorial Palm Oil plc, plans to expand its oil palm plantations on community land in Liberia. The Jogbahn Clan is fighting to keep the company off its land – covering an area of 20,000 hectares.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil fails to uphold workers’ rights and indigenous peoples’ rights
Earlier this month, two meetings took place, both focussing on oil palm plantations. The first was a meeting of communities and civil society and took place in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. The second was the 11th meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia.
HSBC is bankrolling forest destruction
At a meeting last month organised by the Forest Stewardship Council, HSBC’s Francis Sullivan said that if a company doesn’t pass the bank’s sustainability risk tests, then it won’t get a loan.
Memo to WWF: Destroying rainforests and peatland for palm oil is not “sustainable”
WWF loves “sustainability”. With “sustainability”, there’s no need to address over-consumption, or the never-ending growth of capitalist expansion. Consumption can increase, as long as it’s “sustainable”.
Skoll World Forum debate: “How do we feed the world and still address the drivers of deforestation?”
This week the 10th Skoll World Forum takes place at the Saïd Business School in Oxford. One of the topics for debate is “How do we feed the world and still address the drivers of deforestation?”
Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund divests from 23 palm oil companies
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) divested from 23 palm oil companies in 2012. “Several palm oil producers were excluded from the portfolio because their long-term business model was deemed unsustainable,” GPFG writes in its 2012 annual report.
Interview with Scott Poynton, TFT: “We help companies clean up their supply chains – that is the way we need to go to protect the world’s forests”
Interview with Scott Poynton, Executive Director, TFT, Jakarta, June 2012.
Interview with Frank Momberg, Fauna and Flora International: “A community forestry REDD+ programme rolled out nationwide would have a large influence on reducing deforestation and empowering local people”
Interview with Frank Momberg, Fauna and Flora International, in Jakarta, March 2012.