The palm oil industry has become notorious for its negative impacts on tropical rainforests, indigenous peoples, local communities, workers, and the global climate. For over a decade, global brands and palm oil companies, as well as banks and civil society, have invested their time, money, and reputations to develop the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — currently the largest global certification system for palm oil. Despite these efforts, the RSPO is still certifying deforestation, human and labor rights violations, and excessive emissions from development on peatlands — and marketing it as “sustainable.”

The question remains: Will the RSPO make the changes required to become a credible palm oil certification system?

On September 1, the RSPO launched a public consultation of a revised standard and is asking its members to decide if it should strengthen its standard to align with “No Deforestation, No Peatland and No Exploitation” best practices. The final decisions will be made by all members casting votes at its general assembly in November 2018.

Read the source article on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil by Gemma Tillack at Devex International Development