{"id":13377,"date":"2021-03-25T13:36:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/?page_id=13377"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:06:42","slug":"responsible-palm-oil","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.iucn.nl\/en\/our-work\/value-chains\/responsible-palm-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Responsible palm oil"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Header photo: Oil palm in Johor, Malaysia. (c) slpu9945 via Getty Images<\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Palm oil is an essential element in our daily life. It is found in numerous foodstuffs, in cosmetics and cleaning products. Palm oil is currently still an important ingredient in European biodiesel. In order to satisfy the growing demand for this plant-based oil, forests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as Colombia, Liberia and other areas. This results in serious biodiversity loss and climate damage. IUCN NL works to make palm oil production greener by supporting social organisations, improving sustainability standards and by urging government and financial institutes to demand sustainable production.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Encouraging Dutch players to promote increased sustainability<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Dutch companies and financial institutes play a major role in the commercial chains of palm oil. We bring together social organisations and experts that influence Dutch and European authorities, businesses, banks, asset managers and pension funds, each in their own capacity, to make the palm oil chain more sustainable<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In turn, we contribute knowledge \u2013 also to financial bodies \u2013 in the field of biodiversity and the quality of sustainability standards, and we advocate for European legislation to make sustainability mandatory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Advice on voluntary standards for palm oil<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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One of the ways to limit damage to nature is the broad application of strict sustainability standards. Six different standards are used worldwide in the palm oil chain. In 2018, we examined which palm oil standard scores highest in terms of biodiversity and monitoring requirements. It was used to advise companies, financial institutes and governments to adopt the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil (RSPO) standard. However, this standard can also improve monitoring in practice; this is what we advised the RSPO.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Facts<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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