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Companies are ‘falling short’ when it comes to supporting sustainable palm oil production and tackling tropical deforestation, WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard reveals.
These findings came as companies prepared to gather to set the agenda for a more sustainable world at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.
According to the new assessment of global brands’ actions to reduce adverse impacts of unsustainable palm oil, not a single one of the 173 assessed companies attained the top score.
When produced irresponsibly, palm oil – the world’s most traded and consumed vegetable oil – can have a devastating impact on forests, species, communities and the global climate.
There are many long-standing commitments from brands and industry coalitions to eliminate the destruction of nature, including deforestation, from their palm oil supply chains. However, the scorecard shows that most still have a long way to go to turn these promises into reality.
‘These results show that voluntary agreements are clearly not sufficient to address global deforestation, with devastating effects on biodiversity loss and climate change. With EU consumption of palm oil, but also beef, soy, cocoa, maize, and other commodities, being a key driver of deforestation, decisive legislative action is needed in the EU to ensure that only deforestation-free products reach European consumers.
‘In the past few months, the first steps have been taken to allow the development of strong EU legislation, and this must now be pursued as a priority as part of the European Green Deal.’
ANKE SCHULMEISTER-OLDENHOVE
Senior Forests Policy Officer at the WWF European Policy Office
Members of the industry platform Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) have committed to deforestation-free supply chains by 2020. But the scorecard reveals that there is little progress in practice, with only 10 of 53 members scoring in the top 10% of the assessment. WWF ‘expects all CGF members to urgently step up and take the lead on sustainable palm oil.’
‘2020 represents a tremendous opportunity for companies to join policy makers and consumers to commit to palm oil and other commodities placed on the EU market no longer harming nature or forests, and to secure a sustainable future for people and planet. WWF is calling on governments and companies to rise to this challenge by supporting a new EU law, and a broader New Deal for Nature and People.’
ANKE SCHULMEISTER-OLDENHOVE
Senior Forests Policy Officer at the WWF European Policy Office
The Scorecard also reveals that about 25% of assessed companies are investing in on-the-ground initiatives in areas at risk for unsustainable palm oil development, and nearly 25% of companies have still made no commitments at all on sustainable palm oil.
The results show that support to producer countries to address the problems on the ground is needed.
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