Investors, Major Brands Call for Stronger Standards from Palm Oil Certification Group
by Aaron Pickering
Institutional investors representing over $5 trillion in assets have joined together with some of the world’s largest and most recognizable consumer brands, including PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, to call on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to strengthen its standards for certifying the sustainable production of palm oil – a key ingredient found in an estimated 50 percent of all packaged goods, from cosmetics to candy.
In a letter submitted today to the RSPO just before its European Roundtable and Board meeting in Amsterdam, investors and companies called on the RSPO to prohibit deforestation and peatland clearance for certified palm oil production and include additional environmental and human rights protections.
Signatories wrote, “[We] recognize deforestation as a significant risk to long-term business models and, consequently, investments… Palm oil production offers both challenges and opportunities to promote thriving, sustainable economic development. As such, we urge the RSPO to set and enforce standards for truly responsible and sustainable palm oil production.”
