The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), in collaboration with City Shop, Rainbow Shop and METRO, held its “Say Yes to Sustainable Palm Oil” campaign in Beijing earlier this month. The event was designed to help consumers better understand palm oil, its uses, how it contributes to the protection of tropical rainforests and to encourage consumer support of sustainable palm oil. To showcase this, consumers experienced a variety of unique, interactive activities with sustainable palm oil and were given special RSPO-certified gifts for participating.
Companies and consumers unite in support of sustainability
Coinciding with China’s annual Sustainable Consumption Week Campaign, the event brought together 156 supermarkets, department and appliance stores from around the country. Along with RSPO, the UN-China Sustainable Consumption Partnership and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the China Sustainable Retail Roundtable (CSRR) jointly held the 2017 Sustainable Consumption Week. For the occasion, consumers and companies collaborated to help further encourage the implementation of sustainable consumption policies and develop greater consumer awareness about sustainability.
RSPO gets digital for education on rainforest conservation
Prior to the main event, RSPO members and collaborators launched an online WeChat interactive activity, held under the theme “YOU are the One to Protect Tropical Rainforests!” This fun and highly engaging activity helped consumers easily understand the indispensability of sustainable palm oil and the damage it can cause to tropical rainforests when produced unsustainably. As one of the key contributors to the campaign, the RSPO’s activities attracted much attention and support.
China is the world's second largest importer and third largest consumer of palm oil. Membership in China increased by 97% from 2016 to July 2017 and there’s now 73 RSPO members in China. Additionally, the number of certified facilities almost doubled to 81 during the same period. RSPO recognises the importance of China’s influence of imports and exports of sustainable palm oil in transforming the global palm oil market and remain committed to making RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil the norm in China.
