East Asia and Food (In)Security by Shaun Breslin Christopher W. Hughes

Author:Shaun Breslin, Christopher W. Hughes [Shaun Breslin, Christopher W. Hughes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138946699
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2015-10-26T00:00:00+00:00

How robust is the RSPO? Realignment of social forces in the Roundtable

Two key issues currently plague the RSPO; these emerged at the seventh RSPO Roundtable (RT 7) held in November 2009. One item of contention centred on proposed mandatory rules and targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. Following the adoption of the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive in 2009, NGOs and downstream firms (such as consumer manufacturers or retailers) in the RSPO proposed including similar GHG emission criteria and targets in the RSPO. Although RSPO rules already included emissions reductions, the relevant Criterion (#5.6) had been vaguely worded. The second contentious issue centres on the low uptake of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) by downstream manufacturers and their unwillingness to pay a premium price for CSPO, thus placing all the burden of enhancing palm oil’s sustainability on oil palm producers (Khor 2009). These issues have divided the key social forces – stakeholders – underpinning the RSPO. The divide over the GHG issue pits oil palm producers, particularly from Indonesia and Malaysia, against NGOs and downstream corporations that use palm oil in their operations. The second divide over the CSPO issue sees oil palm producers (upstream sector) and NGOs facing off downstream corporate users of palm oil.

NGOs essentially took the lead in shaping the RSPO’s rules on environmental and social sustainability despite their low numbers in the RSPO. Their strength lies in their superior organizational capacity and the very effective strategies they use to get their message across, including in-depth field research, photographic and interview evidence of unsustainable practices, and direct lobbying of firms and governments, especially European governments, and RSPO member firms such as Unilever. Having Jan Kees Vis, who is also Global Director of Sustainable Sourcing Development for Unilever as RSPO President aided the NGO cause to embed strong green and social credentials within the RSPO. But, the material dangers to the industry posed by sustainability concerns, principally through boycott of palm oil, had also led firms in the industry, including plantation firms, to work with NGOs on developing the current body of RSPO regulation (Khor 2009).

However, the early broad-based, if at times uneasy, consensus between different stakeholders that had stabilized the regime since its establishment in 2004 may be at risk as NGOs and downstream corporations push the RSPO to specify clearer targets on GHG emission reduction. The initial NGO suggestion to adopt mandatory rules and targets on GHG emissions had been rejected by Malaysian and Indonesian plantation firms, which hold substantial peat lands in their land banks (Khor 2009: 4). Rules on GHG emission reduction would have severely restricted conversion of peat lands for oil palm cultivation. Some firms threatened to leave the RSPO if GHG reduction rules are made mandatory (The Star, 21 November 2009). In fact, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers’ Association (GAPKI) withdrew from the RSPO in 2011 due to unhappiness with the growing stringency of RSPO rules (Jakarta Post, 16 April 2012). However, downstream businesses such as manufacturers using palm oil in their

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