28/10/2009 (WWF) - A handful of companies are showing real progress in their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil, yet the majority, contrary to their commitments, are failing to buy the product in spite of its availability.

WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard assessed the performance of 59 of the most prominent European retailers and manufacturers that buy and use palm oil in products ranging from chocolate bars and ice-cream to soaps and shampoos. No company achieved the maximum score of 29 points.

Nearly half of the European companies assessed (25) are UK-based – and their performance varied considerably:
• Seven UK retailers and manufacturers scored above 20 points, each showing they have the right policies in place, are monitoring their purchases of palm oil and starting to make good on the commitments that most of them have made to buy certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO). Each is also a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
• The majority (17) scored between five and 20 points. Those at the top end of this scale are showing encouraging signs, yet 12 of the 17 companies scored under 50% (14 points or less out of 29), suggesting they have yet to start dealing with palm oil consistently.
• One UK company scored zero. Companies scoring zero are either showing no action on palm oil or even declined to respond to requests for information. These companies really need to up their game, and WWF is willing to help them do so.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May this year which showed that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. The situation is starting to improve slowly. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over one million tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil, over 195,000 tonnes of which has been sold to date. While this still represents only 19% of the available supply, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in the past few months.

The Scorecard comes a week before the world’s largest producers, buyers and traders of palm oil gather for the 7th RSPO in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As such, the Scorecard provides a timely wake-up call to those who are failing to act, said Adam Harrison, WWF’s senior policy officer for food and agriculture:

"We welcome the action of those companies that have moved toward buying certified palm oil – several of which are UK companies. But commitments are one thing, what’s needed now is action from all of them.

"The top-scoring companies have shown what’s possible, with some buying fairly substantial quantities of CSPO, but now it’s a question of whether the majority will follow. If they do, it will transform the market, giving producers the confidence to grow more sustainable palm oil. If they don’t, there will be grave consequences for the environment."

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

This European Scorecard is just the start of a process to bring more transparency to the global market for sustainable palm oil. In years to come, the Scorecard will set higher benchmarks – including more attention on the purchase of CSPO – and include countries like the US, China and India.

WWF’s work on sustainable palm oil is part of its wider One Planet Food programme, which incorporates the whole food chain, from the production of commodities (like palm oil and soya) through processing and on to consumption and disposal. The goals of the programme are to radically improve the key environmental impacts of the food that is eaten in the UK, including our impact on the parts of the world richest in biodiversity. This is a complex task, and since 2008 WWF has been working in collaboration with scientists and key actors in the food system – businesses, policy makers, consumer organisations and other non-governmental organisations – to understand the impacts of the food consumed in the UK, whether grown here or imported from abroad.