12/05/2010 (CSR Asia) - Few sustainability issues have received as much attention as palm oil over the past years, and public interest does not seem to go away. It is probably only Shell’s ongoing battles in the early 90s and anti-Nike sweatshop campaigns in the late 90s which garnered as much repeated, global and popular attention. And it appears that we are getting new “revelations” every week through social and traditional media and NGO campaigns (see the article on CSR Asia’s blog on 29th April, written by Erin Lyon).

And why not – this is a story which has all the ingredients required: A cuddly flagship species in danger, powerful images of rainforest being destroyed, outcries from displaced communities, and (probably most importantly) a clear link to household brands and products through a global supply chain.

I first began my involvement in the issue through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in 2004, and since that time public awareness has soared. Back then, most people looked perplexed at the mention of palm oil. They had never heard of this “hidden ingredient” – much less knew where it came from and the issues involved. Today, it seems that every “man on the street” has strong – and mostly negative – views of palm oil. For those of us knee-deep in the advancement of more sustainable practices in the sector, this can be frustrating. The amount of animosity out there is disheartening when there are real changes being made to improve social and environmental practices. And we might even get a bit angry when we hear global brands who have been pushing for these changes are now considering to ban palm oil from their products and replace it with less controversial (but not necessarily more sustainable) ingredients.

But of course, there are still major problems in the industry. While a handful of companies are making real changes, others are just going through the motion, and a large group are actually doing absolutely nothing – continuing their destructive ways. So while the anger and frustration felt in the progressive part of the industry may be understandable, there is still plenty of cause to be critical.
 
Getting the full picture
A couple of weeks ago, the IFC published a thorough overview of the issues around palm oil written by Teoh Cheng Hai, former Secretary General of the RSPO (and incidentally a Board Director of CSR Asia Malaysia). The paper is designed as a base for discussion of future IFC/World Bank lending policies to the sector. I hope that this paper will be widely read by all of those with strong opinions, as it sets out the issues – good and bad – in a fairly neutral manner. It is a beautiful anti-dote to the effective scare campaigns waged by the likes of Greenpeace on the one hand and the clumsy and self defeating campaigns by the palm oil industry bodies on the other hand.

However, one report tucked away on the IFC website will not change the debate. Neither do such reports document and address the issue of vastly varying standards within the industry. Part of the problem is the anonymity of companies in the commodities sector. For decades – even centuries – commodities have been unbranded, blended and globally traded – making it impossible to distinguish the good from the bad.
 
Creating real choice through transparency and accountability

One of the frustrations of buyers and stakeholders alike is that it can be difficult to pick the “good guys” when the sector persists in communicating through industry mouthpieces which have to represent everyone – leading to a “lowest common denominator” approach, full of unrealistic claims and little documentation. (The MPOC has now twice had their advertisements banned by the UK Advertising Standards Agency due to failure to provide documentation of their claims that all Malaysian palm oil is sustainably produced).

There are palm oil producers out there who are operating responsibly and showing leadership – but up till now, few have been willing to showcase their efforts and open up their operations to scrutiny from stakeholders and shareholders. But changes are underway – this year, a handful of leading palm oil producers will be publishing sustainability reports, documenting their performance and explaining their approach, dilemmas and vision. We will post links to these on the CSR Asia website as they come out, and hope that this is a first step in challenging blanket condemnation of the industry, encouraging real debate and engagement, and giving palm oil buyers a choice for the first time.