International standard and multi stakeholder organization, the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) recently marked the entry of its first consignment of biofuels certified sustainable palm oil (RSPO-RED) into Rotterdam in compliance with the European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive since its approval in November 2012.
The RSPO-RED is an extension of the RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) based on its Principles & Criteria with supplementary requirements on greenhouse gas emissions.
The world’s second largest palm oil producer and Singapore based public listed company Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) supplied the RSPO-RED consignment to Finland based oil refining and marketing company, Neste Oil via its refinery in one of the world’s largest ports in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Secretary General of the RSPO Darrel Webber commended the companies involved in achieving this milestone: “The successful market entry of RSPO-RED certified sustainable palm oil for biofuels catalyses advancement for the entire sector. It attests to the commitment displayed by industry players amidst a dynamic framework and environment. Continuity is critical for the progress of sustainably produced palm oil in order to sustain market and consumer confidence.”
Neste Oil’s Simo Honkanen, Senior Vice President of Sustainability & Public Affairs, remarked that: “The RSPO-RED is a robust standard for biofuels using CSPO and is considered one of the industry’s highest benchmarks currently available in the market. As the first company in the world to procure RSPO-RED certified sustainable palm oil, it underscores our commitment towards ground breaking entrepreneurship in promoting sustainably produced palm oil.”
NOTES TO EDITOR
18% of world's palm oil production is now RSPO certified
The current estimated annual production capacity of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil is 11.1 million metric tons, approximately 18% of global crude palm oil. Spread over 1.98 million hectares of certified production area, about 49.6% of the world's current RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil production capacity comes from Indonesia, followed by 40.6% from Malaysia, 5.6% from Papua New Guinea and the remaining 4.2% from Solomon Islands, Ivory Coast, Thailand, Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil, Cambodia and Colombia.
About RSPO
In response to the urgent and pressing global call for sustainably-produced palm oil, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders. The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur with satellite offices in Jakarta and London.
RSPO is a not-for-profit association that unites stakeholders from seven sectors of the palm oil industry - oil palm producers, palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs and social or developmental NGOs - to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.
Such multi-stakeholder representation is mirrored in the governance structure of RSPO such that seats in the Executive Board and project-level Working Groups are fairly allocated to each sector. In this way, RSPO lives out the philosophy of the "roundtable" by giving equal rights to each stakeholder group to bring group-specific agendas to the roundtable, facilitating traditionally adversarial stakeholders and business competitors to work together towards a common objective and make decisions by consensus.
Contact for RSPO Secretariat:
Danielle Morley
European Director of Outreach and Engagement
T: +44 (0)208 282 6069
M: +44 7779 780 737
Email
Twitter: @danimorle
Stefano Savi
Acting Communications Director
T: +603-2302 1500 ext 101
Email
