PALM OIL CERTIFICATION LAUNCHED; GREEN GROUPS WEARY
Meeting at the Fifth Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the palm oil industry launched a certification process to guarantees the sustainability of its production. This step follows weeks of intense criticism by environmental groups that worry about the palm oil industry’s practices.
The RSPO is a multi-stakeholder process that aims to advance the production, procurement and use of sustainable oil palm products. Member governments, industry representatives and environmental groups gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia, for the roundtable on 20-22 November. The most important achievement of the meeting was the agreement on a certification process that will allow the industry to track where the palm oil originates. Up until now, manufacturers were unable to track the plantation-to-processor stage of production. The first certified palm oil will be available in the first quarter of 2008.
Efforts to protect rainforests and wildlife, avoid conflicts with indigenous people and improve palm oil yields were among the commitments required under the new certification scheme. The majority of the world’s palm oil is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, and environmental groups have cautioned that plantations are causing havoc in the area. New developments are spurring deforestation and conversion of peatland - eventually leading to significant releases to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenpeace released a report in early November that drew attention to problems in Indonesia (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 16 November 2007, http://www.ictsd.com/biores/07-11-16/inbrief.htm#2). Friends of the Earth recently withdrew its support for the palm oil industry, arguing that biofuels, and especially palm oil, production is destroying natural habitats for wild life and indigenous peoples, as well as contributing to global warming. The group also argues that biofuel production drives up the global price of staple foods, as palm oil is being diverted from food manufacture to supply the growing demand for biofuels. Furthermore, Friends of the Earth favours action to reduce energy consumption and cut emissions at the source. They called on the UN climate change meeting in Bali, Indonesia in December to "say no to agrofuels."
Additional resources
For meeting documentation from the Fifth Roundtable Meeting on Sustainable Palm Oil, visit http://www.rspo.org/RSPO_Certification_Scheme_for_Sustainable_Palm_Oil_Launched_at_RT5.aspx
"Green Group Wary of Plans for ‘Eco-Friendly’ Palm," REUTERS, 27 November 2007; "Sustainable palm oil system soon," by Hanim Adnan, MALAYSIA STAR, 26 November 2007; "Palm oil industry announces "eco" standards for production," MONGOBAY.COM, 26 November 2007; "Palm oil industry moves closer to "green" labeling," REUTERS, 26 November 2007.
PAY FARMERS FOR PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, SAYS FAO
Farmers provide the world with essential ecosystem services, such as carbon storage, flood control, clean water provision and biodiversity conservation. These services are undervalued by the market, and providing targeted economic incentives to farmers could safeguard the environment as well as fight global poverty, according to the 2007 edition of the State of Food and Agriculture report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Released on 15 November, the FAO report states that if subsidy and payment regimes, currently providing incentives for food, fiber and biofuel production, were overhauled to target environmental services, this could also play a hand in maintaining jobs and food resources.
"These services generate a benefit to somebody other than the person who produces them, but no compensation takes place for their provision, so they tend to be under-provided," explained Gerald Nelson, co-author of the report.
"Ensuring appropriate incentives for [farmers] is essential," said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. He continued to say that farming has the potential to degrade the environment or to enhance it, "all depending on the decisions made by the more than two billion people whose livelihoods depend directly on crops, livestock, fisheries or forests."
Additional resources
To access the report visit http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1200e/a1200e00.htm
"Paying Farmers to Protect the Planet is the Future," REUTERS, 16 November 2007; "New United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization Report Says Targeted Payments to Farmers Could Protect Environment and Address Climate Change and Water Supply Concerns," GRAINNET, 16 November 2007; "Paying farmers to protect the environment?" FAO RELEASE, 15 November 2007.
MEETING SEEKS GLOBAL ACTION ON MERCURY
A meeting sponsored by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) has taken the first steps to develop a global plan to address mercury pollution. While many developed countries have diminished their usage of the heavy metal, usage in developing countries has increased, in part due to the rising price of gold.
Convening in Bangkok from 12-16 November, the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Mercury to Review and Assess Measures to Address the Global Issue of Mercury hoped to lay the groundwork for "a comprehensive and decisive response to the global challenge of mercury." While governments disagreed on the need for a legally-binding treaty, they took decisions to analyse issues such as the costs of both legally-binding and voluntary measures, sustainable technology transfer and support, and substitutes for major processes and products containing mercury.
With the price of gold on the rise, artisanal mining practices, which use mercury to extract the precious metal, have increased. UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook has also reported that the projected increase of combustible fuels, such as coal, will continue to release mercury into the atmosphere. Coal-burning and waste incineration accounts for 70 percent of total quantified emissions of mercury. Additionally, scientists are considering a theory, which claims that rising global temperatures could cause dormant underwater deposits to reactivate and emit more of the harmful metal into the oceans, thus contaminating marine food resources.
The EU, which is the world’s top mercury exporter, has taken steps to ban exports by 2011 (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 3 November 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-11-03/inbrief.htm#2).
The February 2008 UNEP Global Ministerial Environment Forum will consider the outcome of the Bangkok meeting. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for October 2008 in Nairobi.
Additional resources
For a summary of the meeting, see IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin at http://www.iisd.ca/vol16/enb1662e.html
"UNEP Wants Global Action on Mercury Threat," PLANET ARK, 13 November 2007; "Global Agreement on Mercury Pollution In the Works," ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE, 14 November 2007; "The first meeting of the ad hoc open-ended working group to review and assess measures to address the global issue of mercury," EARTH BULLETIN, 12-16 November; "UNEP urges global action to curb mercury use," PANAPRESS, 17 November 2007; "UN examines mercury pollution," EDIE NEWSROOM, 20 November 2007.