Summary
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil (RSPO) is a voluntary stakeholder initiative on the palm oil
supply chain. It is a response from agro-business firms and international environmental NGOs to
the dramatic conditions of production in South East Asia. The RSPO certified 'sustainable' 21%
of global palm oil production in 2015. This article assesses the impact of the RSPO certification on
transnational governance, social equity and biodiversity conservation. As the premium is far below certification costs, only the largest producers – 73 firms controlling
more than 2,6 million hectares – have been certified to get access to Western markets. Certification
has reified as « sustainable » the industrial agro-business model on several thousands of hectares and
has integrated this oil into the agro-industry.
RSPO has empowered local communities to accept or reject plantations on their territory. However,
when the plantations were established, certification did not necessarily provide more benefits to
locals than conventional plantations. In addition, excluded from the certification, local firms have not
benefitted from it.
Regarding biodiversity conservation, certification has promoted a segregated landscape with
large-scale plantations and conservation areas. At the global level, this could make sense as large
oil palm plantations are very productive. However, this fails to recognize that the main biodiversity
conservation gains are by supporting the smallholders and that this promotes the consumerist society
at the root causes of biodiversity decline. At the field level, impact on conservation is very small
as producers use strategies to limit the areas they have to protect and as oil palm plantations are
ecological barriers.
To mitigate those problems, international environmental NGOs developed remote sensing tools and
engaged with the largest producers. After more than 10 years of existence, it is yet to be proven that
this top-down approach can curb deforestation. Actors should go beyond RSPO certification, tackle
local factors of decision-making, collaborate with state governments and inform consumers.