Deforestation in Riau province, Sumatra, to make way for an oil palm plantation in 2007 (Source : Wikipedia).
World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) issued a press release that it has released the 2016 Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard, which measure the commitment and performance of 137 major European, US, Canadian, Australian, Indian and Japanese retailers, manufacturers and food service companies.
WWF said that the Scorecard focuses on the year 2015, by which many of these companies pledged to consumers that they would be using 100% certified palm oil.
The 2016 WWF Palm Oil Scorecard measures how companies performed against benchmarks such as joining the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and committing to buy sustainable palm oil and transparency of their sourcing and procurement choices as with previous versions.
In view of this, WWF-Singapore stated that it had written to 19 CEOs of Singapore-based companies to get their responses on how much palm oil they use and where it comes from, with the aim of being transparent to their customers and informing them how much sustainable and haze-free palm oil they use.
Elaine Tan, CEO, WWF-Singapore said, “Brands should be or aim to be at 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil today and showcase to consumers how their sustainability policies help to combat the haze. Companies that have fallen short of that target should be called to account by their competitors and their customers.”
WWF took the lead to transform the market in Singapore and announced the formation of the Singapore Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil (SASPO) together with founding members – Ayam Brand, IKEA, Danone, Unilever and Wildlife Reserves Singapore on June 27th 2016. The Alliance aims to tackle deforestation and haze to ultimately deliver haze-free products to consumers in Singapore.
Many Singapore-based companies are still not aware that they are contributing to deforestation despite five decades of haze and ongoing engagement by WWF. Haze pollution caused by the unsustainable production of palm oil negatively impacts public health, GDP, tourism, climate change and biodiversity.
Deriving learnings from the methodology used by the scorecard, WWF-Singapore and SASPO are preparing the palm oil scorecard for companies in Singapore and the region.
Wf said that the Singapore Scorecard is scheduled to be released in mid-2017 and will reveal the more progressive companies that are on the sustainable journey and have begun using certified palm oil and those that still have not.
WWF-Singapore and Eyes on the Forest (EoF) in Indonesia will work together to provide the latest information from the field – uncovering who is causing the haze over the coming months.
Additionally, WWF-Singapore will provide status updates on the progress of engagement with companies in Singapore. To know more, please subscribe at http://webreathewhatwebuy.com
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries.
WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. WWF-Singapore’s campaigns centre around sustainable consumption, preservation of natural resources and climate change awareness.
EoF is a coalition of three local environmental organizations in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia. They are WWF Indonesia’s Tesso Nilo Programme, Jikalahari (Forest Rescue Network Riau) and Walhi Riau (Friends of the Earth Indonesia). The coalition was launched in December 2004 to investigate the state of Riau’s forests and the players who influence it.
