MEDIA ADVISORY - Sustainable Palm Oil: Marketing Ploy or True Commitment?

Press Event to Issue Research in Advance of the RSPO’s 11th Annual Meeting in Medan; NGOs From Across Asia and Africa Question Effectiveness of RSPO Standards

Growing global demand for palm oil is fuelling the large-scale expansion of oil palm plantations across the forests of Southeast Asia and Africa. Concerns about the resulting environmental and social impacts led to the establishment of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004. The RSPO certifies operations that respect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities living on the land and also conserve lands and forests with high conservation value.

But RSPO-certified companies have not always held to their commitments, especially in respect to the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. The depth of these commitments are explored in an extensive research publication titled Conflict or consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads, which will be launched at a press conference in Medan, Indonesia, on 7 November, 2013. 

The research has been conducted by Forest Peoples Programme, Sawit Watch (both NGO members of the RSPO) and Transformasi Untuk Keadilan Indonesia, in collaboration with 17 NGO partners, and provides detailed analyses of the performances of 16 palm oil operations, many run by RSPO member companies, in locations across Asia and Africa.  

Representatives from the NGOs who conducted the research publication will gather in Medan, ahead of the RSPO’s 11th Annual Meeting (11-14 November, also in Medan), to launch the report and circulate its findings and recommendations. 

WHAT: Press conference to launch new research publication Conflict or consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads by Forest Peoples Programme, Sawit Watch and Transformasi Untuk Keadilan Indonesia, in advance of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)’s 11th Annual Meeting

WHO:

• Marcus Colchester, Senior Policy Advisor, Forest Peoples Programme (UK)
• Anwar Sadat, Executive Director, WALHI Sumatera Selatan
• Norman Jiwan, Executive Director, Transformasi Untuk Keadilan Indonesia
• Agustinus Karlo Lumban Raja, Head of Department, Environmental and Policy Initiative Department, Sawit Watch (Indonesia)
• Kittisak Rattanakrangsri, Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples’ Foundation for Education and Environment (IPF) (Thailand)
• Christopher Fon Achobang, Environmental Consultant (Cameroon)

WHEN: Press conference: 7 November 2013, 1pm local time

WHERE: VIP Lounge, Aryaduta Hotel, Medan, Indonesia

RSVP: To RSVP for the 7 November press conference please contact:

• Sophie Chao, sophie@forestpeoples.org; phone +62 812 9516 5111

For additional enquiries, please contact:

• Wiwin Rahmawati, rahmawati_winarni@yahoo.com; phone +62 251 8352171
• Agustinus Karlo Lumban Raja, carlo@sawitwatch.or.id; phone +62 813 85991983
• Bekmi Darusman: +628126479148
• Gun/Edi Sutrisno, edisutrisno.01@gmail.com; +6281315849153

To request interviews, please contact:

• Gemma Humphrys, gemma@forestpeoples.org; phone +44 (0) 1608-652893