Members of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) hold voted in favour of stricter standards for certified sustainable palm oil at their annual meeting in Malaysia on Thursday. Nestlé says key gaps are addressed but wants even stricter criteria. RSPO is a coalition of palm oil producers,processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers (such as Nestlé), and retailers,banks and NGOs, with the aim “to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil”. The unusual standards, and that are relevant immediately,call for an close to deforestation of High Carbon Stock (HCS) forest land for palm oil plantations, as well as a total moratorium on planting of peatlands of any depth. Additional requirements include tighter labour standards such as preventing the exploitation of contract and migrant workers. A “no” vote by the group would hold caused significant turmoil, and especially in the face of mounting criticism of palm oil usage. Recently,as seen in the tweet below, ...
Source: swissinfo.ch