Bites of the roundtable1 June 2006
NB, Friends of the Earth has suspended support for the RSPO since these pages were written - please see this declaration by Friends of the Earth International.
Palm oil is a vegetable oil found in one in 10 UK supermarket products - including crisps, bread, detergents and lipsticks.
The creation of palm oil plantations to meet the growing demand for one of the world's most popular vegetable oils is driving rainforest destruction in South East Asia.
In Indonesia, the area of land occupied by palm oil plantations has doubled in the last 10 years.
Similarly, the development of palm oil plantations was responsible for 87% of deforestation in Malaysia between 1985 and 2000.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
Friends of the Earth is calling on UK companies importing or trading in palm oil and palm oil products to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The RSPO is a joint initiative of companies and NGO's who support the production and trade in sustainable palm oil.
The RSPO agreed a set of Principles and Criteria governing oil palm plantation development in November 2005.
Key projects they are now working on include:
- How to credibly verify that plantations have met the RSPO Principles and Criteria
- A mechanism for tracing palm oil from the plantation to the market
- How to ensure that smallholder producers are not excluded from their initiative.
Supermarket power
Given the huge power wielded by supermarkets in the UK economy, Friends of the Earth has been calling on all UK supermarkets to join the RSPO.
Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op have now joined.
However, Tesco and Morrisons have so far refused, despite the fact that palm oil is found in one in 10 of the products they sell.
Further information
May 2006
MPs asked to save the orang-utan
MPs were challenged at a parliamentary reception to take action on palm oil and UK company law to save the orang-utan.
Oct 2005
Orang-utans go ape over palm oil
Friends of the Earth local campaigners take action to tell everyone that 1 in 10 supermarket products is driving the orang-utan to extinction.
Sept 2005
The future's not bright if you're orange
A report linking the demand for palm oil to the extinction of the orang-utan is launched by Friends of the Earth and the world's leading orang-utan conservation groups.
Image © Tamsyn East/Friends of the Earth
