## RSPO: Towards a Sustainable Future for Palm Oil at RT2024
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, for its annual conference, RT2024, marking two decades of positive impact. The focus? Scaling innovation and driving transformative change within the palm oil sector. The conference, supported by Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, took place from November 11-13, amidst preparations for the adoption of the RSPO 2024 Standards.
The RSPO’s updated Standards, comprising the 2024 Principles & Criteria (P&C) and the 2024 Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard, bring greater clarity, auditability, and implementability. These revised Standards address market and regulatory relevance, prioritizing deforestation reduction, human rights due diligence, and the inclusion of smallholders in global supply chains.
A Vision for a Sustainable Future
In his keynote address, RSPO’s first Secretary General, Teoh Cheng Hai, highlighted the organization’s journey to become the gold standard for sustainable palm oil production. He underscored the importance of innovative partnerships as a key strategy for the RSPO to lead the global sustainable palm oil supply chain in alignment with the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Joseph D’Cruz, RSPO CEO, reaffirmed the organization’s preparedness to meet the future demands of the industry. “Building on our strong foundations, the RSPO is ready to meet the next 20 years with fortified Standards, enhanced verification systems, and an end-to-end digital certification, trade and traceability architecture powered by data.” He emphasized the strengthened integration of the revised Standards with the certification system through RSPO’s prisma platform, which stands for Palm Resource Information and Sustainability Management. This platform is designed to provide digital data and supply chain traceability, acting as a valuable tool for members to strengthen risk assessment and due diligence for regulatory compliance.
Forging Strategic Partnerships for Sustainable Impact
RT2024 witnessed the establishment of several strategic partnerships aimed at enhancing the social, environmental, and economic benefits of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) production and trade.
Protecting High Conservation Value Forests
The RSPO and the High Conservation Value Network (HCVN) renewed their longstanding partnership to promote best practices and innovative approaches to HCV protection. Aligned with the revised RSPO Standards, the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to safeguard high conservation value (HCV) and high carbon stock (HCS) forests within sustainable palm oil landscapes. This MoU will strengthen the protection of ecosystems, biodiversity, and areas of critical importance for indigenous and local communities.
Belinda Bowling, Global Director of the HCV Network, stated, “By prioritizing conservation values as an integral part of sustainable palm oil production, HCVN will continue to collaborate with RSPO to embed HCV protections within sustainable land management practices across palm oil landscapes, setting clearer benchmarks for environmental and social stewardship across the palm oil sector.” As of 2023, RSPO Certification has protected over 466,600 ha of valuable HCV and HCS forests since adopting the HCV Approach in November 2005 and the HCS Approach in November 2018. Overall, taking into account other critical ecosystems, RSPO Certification has protected and remediated about 646,700 ha of valuable forests and areas, including tropical peatlands and riparian reserves globally.
Integrating Climate Impact Reduction into Smallholder Certification
The RSPO has witnessed significant growth in its smallholder certification footprint globally. As of 2023, over 40,000 individual independent smallholders have been certified, with certification expanding to Colombia, Ecuador, and Honduras. Recognizing the critical role that smallholders can play in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from palm oil production, the RSPO signed an MoU with Global Green Chemicals Public Company Limited (GGC) and GIZ, the German sustainable development entity.
This MoU will integrate climate impact reduction within RSPO Certification through the Sustainable Palm Oil Production and Procurement Project on Climate Mitigation and Adaptation (SPOPP CLIMA). This project, funded by GGC, a leading company in Thailand committed to achieving carbon neutrality, aims to promote low-carbon farming practices and includes the development of a carbon footprint calculation tool for fresh fruit bunches.
Mr. Kridsada Prasertsuko, Managing Director of Global Green Chemical PCL, commented, “GGC has worked with GIZ and RSPO to support our oil palm smallholders in reducing carbon emissions and carbon footprints. Together, our goal is to achieve 20% carbon emission reduction by Year 2030 and achieve Net Zero by Year 2050, together with promoting sustainable oil palm production in accordance with the European Union Deforestation-free Regulations (EUDR), effective on 1 January 2025. This cooperation will not only reduce climate impact on the agricultural sector but also enhance sustainability to the oil palm industry and promote the image of the Thai oil palm industry in the global market.” The project will also create a training curriculum on carbon footprint calculation for farmers and establish demonstration plots to showcase suitable low-carbon farming practices. Since 2015, cumulative GHG emissions (~2 million MT CO2e) avoided through the implementation of RSPO Standards is equal to 468,864 passenger vehicles driven over a year.
Dr. Taworn Thunjai, Inspector-General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, speaking on behalf of Thailand’s Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Her Excellency Prof. Dr. Narumon Pinyosinwat, recognized the RSPO’s role in supporting smallholder farmers, who play a vital role in Thailand’s palm oil sector. In the five years since the last Roundtable Conference was held in Thailand, the country has solidified its position as the world’s third-largest palm oil producer. Today, smallholders from 400,000 households in Thailand account for 85% of Thailand’s palm oil production area. Thailand has the highest percentage of RSPO certified independent smallholders who are women, 42%, compared to the global average of 28%.
Growing Demand for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil
As of 2023, RSPO Certified oil palm area spans 5.2 million ha across 23 countries. Midstream and downstream facilities certified under the RSPO Supply Chain Certification (SCC) Standard stand at 6,907 sites worldwide. CSPO supply reached a new milestone at 16.1 million MT, representing a 4.3% growth in production year-on-year, while CSPO consumption grew to 9.8 million MT, representing a 7.2% increase in downstream usage year-on-year.
Consumption growth is driven by the RSPO Shared Responsibility (SR) Framework, which supports members in compliance reporting and requires having in place relevant policies and plans, as well as a commitment to meet yearly uptake targets. More than half of applicable processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, and retailer members met their 2023 CSPO SR uptake targets.
To support independent smallholders (ISH), RSPO downstream members bought 261,792 ISH Credits worth US$7.0 million in 2023, directly benefiting 85 certified ISH groups.
Downstream players from China, the world’s second-largest palm oil importer, were prominent at RT2024. Emerging policies in China are steering suppliers towards sustainable palm oil sourcing practices, creating a demand for more sustainable palm oil products in the Chinese market. In November, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group (Yili Group), one of the world’s top five dairy companies, and Yihai Kerry, the leading palm oil trader in China, spearheaded the very first shipment of RSPO CSPO into the country. This first tranche involved 750 tonnes of CSPO, certified under the Identity Preserved (IP) supply chain model, which maintains a single identifiable certified source that is kept separate from ordinary palm oil throughout the supply chain.
Further demonstrating its commitment to sourcing CSPO products into China, at RT2024, Yili Group signed two additional sustainable procurement agreements with major international traders, Bunge and Cargill. This signifies Yili Group’s ambition to build a global green value chain for palm oil.
Celebrating Excellence in Sustainable Palm Oil
RT2024 also included the RSPO Excellence Awards, recognizing fifteen RSPO Members for their outstanding contributions to sustainable palm oil. The winners included:
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World Association of Zoos and Accreditation for Innovation
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Hacienda La Cabaña S.A for Conservation Leadership
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Sustainable Palm Oil Production (ThaChana-Chaiya) Community Enterprise for Smallholder Impact
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Ferrero Trading Luxembourg S.A and Chester Zoo for Communicating for Good
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Proctor and Gamble for Shared Responsibility
Learn more about the winners, nominees, and their award-worthy initiatives here. For further information on the RSPO’s work and impacts, view the RSPO Impact highlights here.
About RSPO
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a global partnership dedicated to making palm oil sustainable. Formed in 2004, the RSPO is a multi-stakeholder non-profit organization that unites members from across the palm oil value chain, including oil palm producers, palm oil processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and social or developmental NGOs.
As a partnership for progress and positive impact, the RSPO facilitates global change to make the production and consumption of palm oil sustainable. To inspire change, the RSPO communicates the environmental and social benefits. To make progress, the RSPO catalyzes collaboration. To provide assurance, the RSPO sets the standards of certification. The RSPO is registered as an international association in Zurich, Switzerland, with main offices in Malaysia and Indonesia, and offices in China, Colombia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States.
