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Background: The Palm Oil Crisis. Reasons to stop purchasing and consuming products with Palm Oil
Background: The Palm Oil Crisis. Reasons to stop purchasing and consuming products with Palm Oil
Environmental Degradation and Destruction
Slash and burn of tropical forests
Causes habitat loss for critically rare and endangered species
Rainforest habitat loss is the greatest driver of global climate change
Human Rights Abuses
Murder and rape of protesters and villagers by government and company-funded armed forces
Destruction of villages; pollution water sources
Illegal arrests and imprisonment
Subjugate negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples
Health Issues
Highly saturated fats - detrimental to cardiovascular health (Ex: Heart attack and stroke)
Shelf life of products increased with palm oil for months to years resulting in a loss of nutritional value
The Unsustainability of ‘Red Gold’:
The Unsustainability of ‘Red Gold’:
Palm oil has become symbolic of forest destruction, similar to other products like rubber, cattle, and soy. While progress has been made in highlighting the need for sustainable palm oil (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Impact Report - 2023), existing corporate sustainability initiatives have largely fallen short, oftentimes committing greenwashing (Dauvergne, 2018). Greenwashing efforts fail to recognize and rectify the ecological and social realities on the ground in tropical regions. Corporations are purchasing the “red gold” (palm oil) at an increasingly higher rate (Berenschot et al., 2024), further perpetuating forest destruction at a grand scale in tropical regions around the world. Existing certification systems, like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), represent conflicts of interest in that these systems are governed by corporate palm oil operations. And, despite the existence of the RSPO, there has not been a significant reduction in increased forest clearing for oil palm plantations (VanderWilde et al., 2023). The RSPO's standards for sustainable palm oil have shown a lack of accountability, as the corporation's increasing land use raises concerns about shifting the sustainability goalposts from the RSPO's perspective.
Palm oil has become symbolic of forest destruction, similar to other products like rubber, cattle, and soy. While progress has been made in highlighting the need for sustainable palm oil (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Impact Report - 2023), existing corporate sustainability initiatives have largely fallen short, oftentimes committing greenwashing (Dauvergne, 2018). Greenwashing efforts fail to recognize and rectify the ecological and social realities on the ground in tropical regions. Corporations are purchasing the “red gold” (palm oil) at an increasingly higher rate (Berenschot et al., 2024), further perpetuating forest destruction at a grand scale in tropical regions around the world. Existing certification systems, like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), represent conflicts of interest in that these systems are governed by corporate palm oil operations. And, despite the existence of the RSPO, there has not been a significant reduction in increased forest clearing for oil palm plantations (VanderWilde et al., 2023). The RSPO's standards for sustainable palm oil have shown a lack of accountability, as the corporation's increasing land use raises concerns about shifting the sustainability goalposts from the RSPO's perspective.
Berenschot, Ward, Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Otto Hospes, Afrizal, and Daniel Pranajaya. 2024. "Corporate Contentious Politics: Palm Oil Companies and Land Conflicts in Indonesia." Political Geography 114: 103166. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166.
Berenschot, Ward, Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Otto Hospes, Afrizal, and Daniel Pranajaya. 2024. "Corporate Contentious Politics: Palm Oil Companies and Land Conflicts in Indonesia." Political Geography 114: 103166. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166.
Dauvergne, Peter. 2018. "The Global Politics of the Business of “Sustainable” Palm Oil." Global Environmental Politics 18(2): 34-52. doi: 10.1162/glep_a_00455.
Dauvergne, Peter. 2018. "The Global Politics of the Business of “Sustainable” Palm Oil." Global Environmental Politics 18(2): 34-52. doi: 10.1162/glep_a_00455.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Impact Report - 2023. https://rspo.org/wp-content/uploads/Impact-Update-2023_.pdf
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Impact Report - 2023. https://rspo.org/wp-content/uploads/Impact-Update-2023_.pdf
VanderWilde, Calli P., Joshua P. Newell, Dimitrios Gounaridis, and Benjamin P. Goldstein. 2023. "Deforestation, Certification, and Transnational Palm Oil Supply Chains: Linking Guatemala to Global Consumer Markets." Journal of Environmental Management 344: 118505-118505. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118505.
VanderWilde, Calli P., Joshua P. Newell, Dimitrios Gounaridis, and Benjamin P. Goldstein. 2023. "Deforestation, Certification, and Transnational Palm Oil Supply Chains: Linking Guatemala to Global Consumer Markets." Journal of Environmental Management 344: 118505-118505. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118505.
Palm Oil Poster.pdfBecoming palm oil-free assists in preserving tropical and subtropical rainforests. These are ecosystems home to some of the world's most endangered plants, mammals, birds, and insect species. This includes rare species that do not exist anywhere else in the world and can not survive naturally anywhere else, such as the orangutans. There is additionally great concern surrounding the socioeconomic pressures from the large palm oil plantation owners towards the smallholder farmers who grow the palm oil fruits: the labor, health and educational rights of smallholder farmers and their families are potentially at risk.
Becoming palm oil-free assists in preserving tropical and subtropical rainforests. These are ecosystems home to some of the world's most endangered plants, mammals, birds, and insect species. This includes rare species that do not exist anywhere else in the world and can not survive naturally anywhere else, such as the orangutans. There is additionally great concern surrounding the socioeconomic pressures from the large palm oil plantation owners towards the smallholder farmers who grow the palm oil fruits: the labor, health and educational rights of smallholder farmers and their families are potentially at risk.
Benefits of Certifying Your Institution as Palm Oil-Reduced
Benefits of Certifying Your Institution as Palm Oil-Reduced
By becoming a palm oil-reduced certified institution, you will:
By becoming a palm oil-reduced certified institution, you will:
Help bring an end to the decades-long exploitation and destruction resulting from the palm oil industrial complex
Expand opportunities for sustainability workshops, conferences, internships, and research within as well as beyond your organization
Offer even healthier dining options
Cultivate a culture of sustainability, unite discrete stakeholders toward a common goal; increase eco-literacy
Be on the cutting edge of institutional sustainability; increase brand credibility and recognition for sustainable practices
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