News page

Inspired by the approach of EPOA and at the initiative of Solidaridad Network, the edible oil industry associations from five major palm oil importing countries from Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal) have formed an Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA). In the coming year, the membership of the alliance will be further expanded to include other companies or industry organisations operating in the production and/or refining of palm oil in Asia. APOA commits to work across the world to ensure that palm oil is recognised as a high-quality, economical, and healthy vegetable oil and to change the negative image of palm oil.

We received very exciting news from the Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community telling that that Dr Jane Goodall, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, has agreed to become one of the campaign’s Ambassadors!

As a world-renowned ethologist, conservationist and author, Bournemouth resident Dr Goodall supports the campaign advocating that the food products we buy and sell only contain palm oil from sustainable sources.

A group of fourteen countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Colombia, has expressed its serious concerns regarding EU’s proposal for a regulation on deforestation-free products. Ina joint letterto the Presidents of the European Council, European Parliament and the European Commission, the ambassadors of the fourteen countries state that they regret the EU has chosen for unilateral legislation instead of international engagement, like in the case of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The EU and ASEAN countries (incl. Indonesia and Malaysia) have reaffirmed the importance of continuous engagement to promote sustainability efforts and practices in the vegetable oil sector, including palm oil, and other possible collaboration, with a view to strengthening mutual understanding, both in their Joint Working Group on Palm Oil and other fora. This was confirmed by a press release.

The European Forest Institute (EFI), an international organisation established by 30 European States, this week published a report ‘Exploring how commodity traders’ strategies can influence the forest conservation effects of the proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products’. Based on interviews with cocoa, palm oil, and soy traders, as well as supply chain specialists like consultants and NGOs, this policy brief investigates the strategies that traders could engage in response to the European Commission’s proposal. What they found out was not surprising, albeit worrying. You’ll find ithere.

SPOC has published answers to some of the most asked questions around palm oil and sustainability including links to qualified resources. The goal of this new webpage is twofold: 1. rank high in search engines (Google) when these questions are asked and 2. use it as content for social media. With the new FAQs, we want to ensure that more consumers and professionals are informed about sustainable palm oil. For the overview of the questions and answers please click here.