Reviewing RSPO's Complaints System

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has had a complaints or grievance mechanism for the past several years to allow for social and environmental issues and concerns with the RSPO system itself to be raised and resolved through an institutionalised procedure. This complaints mechanism has been adapted alongside the organisation's Principles and Criteria, but it faces a growing number of critiques from communities, NGOs and companies alike and calls for widespread improvement. Since April 2014, Natural Justice has been undertaking a review of RSPO's complaints system along with BC Initiative Sdn. Bhd. in light of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other relevant international law and policy, experiences from complaints mechanisms in other sectors, and civil society critiques, among other things. The first interim report was submitted in May 2014 and the research will continue until November.

As part of this review, Natural Justice and the RSPO Secretariat held a workshop from 18-19 August in Bandung, Indonesia, with a range of stakeholders. The purpose of the workshop was to seek their feedback on the first interim report and to further develop the recommendations therein, which are divided into four categories, namely: governance, management, procedural, and substantive issues. The recommendations will continue to be developed and refined in the run-up to the 12th Roundtable in November, where a penultimate version of the review will be presented.

Developing FPIC Guidance for Oil Palm Companies

Indigenous community representative from West Malaysia.

Though not without its critics, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is an important forum for developing voluntary certification standards and has the potential to tip the balance of the industry in favour of a more viable path for conservation and people, alongside economic development.

In 2008, Forest Peoples Programme published a guide to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for RSPO member companies. With the recent revision of the RSPO's Principles and Criteria, Forest Peoples Programme is accordingly updating the FPIC guidance in collaboration with Natural Justice and other members of the new Human Rights Working Group. As part of this process, the first of two stakeholder consultation workshops was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 30 June to 1 July. The objectives of the meeting were:

• To listen to the views of all parties on what constitutes a successful process for recognising the right of indigenous peoples, local communities and other users to give or withhold their FPIC to land acquisition for the establishment of oil palm plantings;
• To learn lessons from communities, companies, auditors and NGOs and from Social Impact Assessments, complaints and dispute resolution about what has and has not worked;
• To contribute insights into how the RSPO Guide for Companies on FPIC can be strengthened; and
• To examine more broadly FPIC in relation to the planning and establishment of oil palm holdings, including the possibility of joint ventures with communities, communities leasing lands, communities as smallholders and other options.

Participants included representatives of Indigenous peoples from West Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak, supporting NGOs, oil palm companies, and RSPO Secretariat staff. Holly Jonas (Natural Justice) presented on FPIC in international law. The outcomes of this and the second workshop in Jakarta (to be held in late July) will be incorporated into the revised guidance, release of which is planned for the next RSPO Roundtable in November. For any questions, please contact holly (at) naturaljustice.org.

Exploring the Oil Palm Landscape in the Telupid Forest Complex

Meeting participants in Telupid. Credit: Forever Sabah

Oil palm is one of the biggest commodities in Southeast Asia and is often considered the backbone of the Malaysian economy. However, it has also had an undeniable widespread impact on tropical forests and on the thousands of Indigenous peoples and communities who depend upon them for livelihoods and survival. At the same time, a growing number of communities have small-scale oil palm plantations and are seeking ways to balance environmental protection with income generation.

In the heart of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, the  25-year initiative Forever Sabah is working to bring together communities, smallholders, large oil palm companies, government agencies, and NGOs to address these and other issues in the Telupid Forest Complex. From 23-25 June, a multi-stakeholder team from PACOS Trust, LEAP, Natural Justice, the Drainage and Irrigation Department, and the Forestry Department held meetings with oil palm smallholders and with the managers of a large plantation with high conservation value areas and a mill, in order to identify constraints, bottlenecks, and opportunities for further improvement. An additional series of meetings is being planned for July to explore the issues in greater detail.

For more information, please see: http://forever-sabah.com/news/first-steps-in-telupid/ and follow Forever Sabah on Facebook.

New Research Questions Effectiveness of RSPO Standards

"Members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) are violating the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in the forests and peatlands of tropical nations worldwide, according to a new research publication released today. The study details the performance of 16 oil palm operations, many run by RSPO members, reporting on their failure to uphold human rights and environmental standards required.

'Since its founding eight years ago, the RSPO has adopted good standards, but too many member companies are not delivering on these paper promises,' said Norman Jiwan, Executive Director of Transformasi Untuk Keadilan Indonesia, a human rights organisation based in Jakarta. 'The RSPO could still meet this challenge if it provides remedies for member companies’ impacts on communities, but for that we need much stricter enforcement. The organisation’s very credibility is at stake.'

The book 'Conflict or consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads' details cases in which palm oil producers have failed to obtain permission from communities - a process required by the RSPO based on the UN mandate that is known as free, prior and informed consent. The findings also support accounts of the destructive impact that the palm oil developments are having on indigenous peoples and local communities." To download the report, edited by Marcus Colchester and Sophie Chao (Forest Peoples Programme), and related materials, please visit: http://www.forestpeoples.org/press-room.

Source: Forest Peoples Programme Press Release, 6 November 2013

Online Debate on RSPO and Palm Oil Sustainability

Darrel Weber, RSPO Secretary General

On 21 May, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) joined an online debate hosted by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) on a range of questions concerning palm oil sustainability. The debate was moderated by acclaimed writer and journalist Fred Pearce and the speakers included Darrel Weber (Secretary General, RSPO), Robert Hii (Outreach Manager, Palm Oil Consumers Action), and Lorinda Jane and Michelle Nicol (Products on Australian Shelves that Contain Palm Oil).

The discussion revolved primarily around the following topics: 

• Challenges, including the complexity of the supply chain, lack of consumer confidence in RSPO-certified palm oil in certain 'developed' markets, and the overall balance that needs to be struck in multi-stakeholder processes between high standards and participation of key players in an evolving industry;

Major Geotagged Report on Oil Palm in Palawan, the Philippines

Ancestral Land/Domain Watch (ALDAW) has just released a major report on the environmental and social impact of oil palm expansion on the Palawan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Philippines, with the support of Rainforest Rescue and the World Rainforest Movement. Part I of the report contains information about the biocultural diversity and Indigenous peoples of Palawan, the institutional and legislative framework for the oil palm industry, company strategies to gain official permits and control, the status of plantations in several municipalities, civil society opposition, and ongoing challenges and future trends. It then provides recommendations to a range of key actors, including the national and provincial governments, the Philippine Coconut Authority and Department of Agriculture, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, international organisations and donors, and civil society in the Philippines.

Part II of the report contains samples of geo-coded photos of oil palm locations and impacted areas (geotagging is the process of associating photos with specific geographic locations using GPS coordinates).

ALDAW is a Philippines-based advocacy campaign network of Indigenous peoples defending their ancestral land and resources from mining corporations, oil palm companies, top-down conservation schemes and all forms of imposed development, on Palawan Island and a fellow member of the Indigenous peoples' and community conserved territories and areas (ICCA) Consortium. Please visit ALDAW's Vimeo page, read other geo-tagged reports from Gantong and Bulanjao (Palawan), and consider signing the following petitions:

• To stop the plundering of Indigenous territories,
• To stop palm oil expansion in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and
• "No to Mining in Palawan".

FPP Resource on RSPO Dispute Resolution System

Via www.forestpeoples.org/

The Forest Peoples' Programme has produced a booklet documenting the dispute resolution system of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a not-for-profit association formed in 2004 in response to the urgent and pressing global call for sustainably produced palm oil. While the document identifies numerous shortcomings with the RSPO complaints system, it seeks to ensure that communities are capable of accessing the current system. According to the booklet, "it provides basic information and guidance to civil society organisations and affected local communities on how the RSPO complaint process works and the various steps involved in submitting a complaint."

The booklet can be downloaded here. 

Palm Oil Producer Violations Exposed

A series of major Asian palm oil companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) have been exposed for violations of RSPO guidelines. As a recent press release from the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) demonstrates in documenting several of these cases, these violations raise the question of whether the RSPO is actually able to enforce its own standards. 

It was recently established by Green Advocates, representing the Kru tribes in Liberia, that a subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer, Sina Mas, had clearly violated the RSPO’s New Planting Procedure by not advertising plans to clear and plant oil palms and not publicising a High Conservation Value Assessment. According to RSPO standards, the company should cease clearance until due process is followed, especially as community members have expressed concern that their land is being taken without their free, prior and informed consent. 

The FPP press release documents further violations of RSPO guidelines in Liberia, Cameroon, Malaysia, and Indonesia, many uncovered through a partnership between FPP, Sawit Watch and other partners to review the practices of 15 major palm oil companies in West Africa and Southeast Asia. It concludes by noting Sawit Watch’s concern that the RSPO must significantly improve its system as its credibility is clearly at stake. 

Find the full press release here. Download FPP and Sawit Watch’s review of 15 RSPO members practices here.

Palm Oil and Bioenergy Strategies in SE Asia - Regional Seminar

Via SEI

As the cultivation and processing of palm oil and other biofuel foodstocks continues to expand in Southeast Asia, increasing its economic significance with support from international finance institutions, regional development banks, and governments, the region is witnessing unprecedented land use changes and changes in the exploitation of natural resources and local livelihoods. In this context, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is hosting a regional seminar in Bangkok, Thailand, from 15-16 November 2012 on “Palm oil and bioenergy strategies in South East Asia: Review of field lessons and debate on ways ahead.” 

The seminar will seek to support the coordination of existing governmental policies, regulations and regional strategies for palm oil and bioenergy through the provision of lessons learnt and new research data from case studies on land use change and water resource management in palm oil plantations and feedstock processing. It aims to contribute to an evidence-based dialogue on the rigour of the existing strategies, and to consider how further implementation can be enhanced to promote sustainable production. The seminar will include presentations of national and regional bioenergy and palm oil strategies, lessons from case studies in Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia, and a panel debate, involving participation from governments, regional development banks, companies and NGOs. 

The seminar will draw from the lessons the SEI has learned from its experience in the field, including case studies on community grievances and water governance in the oil palm sector in central Kalimantan, Indonesia (download here) and on how the European Union can revise its policies to support ‘sustainable’ palm oil cultivation (download here). SEI recently hosted at seminar on “Promoting Biofuels, Creating Scarcity?” in Brussels (learn more here).