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Consumers

Questions

1. What is palm oil?
2. Where does it come from?
3. Why is palm oil controversial?
4. Should I stop buying products containing palm oil?
5. What is the palm oil industry doing to counter the problems?
6. What is GreenPalm?
7. How does GreenPalm work to protect the environment?
8. Can I support GreenPalm?

Answers

1. What is palm oil?
   

   Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree. Products refined from crude palm oil are used in many foods, cooking oils, soaps and cosmetics.

2. Where does it come from?
   

   Seventeen countries produce palm oil. Malaysia and Indonesia account for 83 per cent of global production. The top producing nations are Malaysia, Indonesia, Colombia and Papua New Guinea.

3. Why is palm oil controversial?
   

   Palm oil is produced in countries in which there are a large percentage of the world’s rainforests. Rainforests are being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations as demand for palm oil grows worldwide. Campaign groups claim forest destruction is decimating orangutan habitats and greenhouses gases are being released, leading to an increase in global warming.

4. Should I stop buying products containing palm oil?
   

   No. Palm oil is safe and versatile. It is used in many foods and other products. Many millions of people in some of the world’s poorer regions rely on palm oil for their livelihood. A ban would put their jobs on the line. If the West banned palm oil, the industry would still export large quantities of unregulated, unsustainable oil to places like China.

5. What is the palm oil industry doing to counter the problems?
   

   The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established to tackle the environmental and social problems associated with the production of palm oil. Its founder members include palm oil producers, palm oil users, retailers and environmental organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature and Oxfam.

   In 2003 the RSPO achieved agreement among its hundreds of members from around the world on strict criteria for sustainable palm oil production. Independent assessors, appointed by the RSPO, audit mills and plantations to decide whether they meet strict criteria to be certified as producers of sustainable palm oil.

6. What is GreenPalm?
   

   GreenPalm is a company set up to promote the production of sustainable palm oil. It operates a certificate trading system. Palm oil producers who have invested in sustainable practices can earn extra revenue by selling GreenPalm certificates. By buying the certificates, retailers, food companies and other end users are actively supporting and encouraging sustainable palm oil production.

7. How does GreenPalm work to protect the environment?
   

   GreenPalm is a completely new approach to tackling the problems caused by a complex international industry. A straightforward, flexible and easily implemented system, it will start driving improvements immediately.

   Supported by RSPO, GreenPalm guarantees a financial premium to producers who can prove they are environmentally and socially responsible, who are not destroying primary forest, and who develop plans to continually improve their operations. And because it works through the existing supply chain, it safeguards millions of palm oil jobs in some of the world’s poorer regions.

   GreenPalm’s ultimate aim is to put itself out of business by ensuring all the world’s palm oil supplies are sustainable. But in the future this innovative and simple system could be adapted to help other global businesses towards sustainability.

8. Can I support GreenPalm?
   

   Yes you can. Manufacturers and retailers who are supporting sustainable production will bear the GreenPalm logo on their products so that consumers can make an informed choice about which products they buy.