The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has welcomed the European Parliament Committee’s recent commitment to 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil, after its decision to adopt the own-initiative report titled ‘Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests.

Led by MEP Kateřina Konečná, the committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety’s adoption of the report signals its commitment to ensuring that palm oil is only produced sustainably. This is in accordance with the environmental and social sustainability criteria.

Danielle Morley, European Director of Outreach and Engagement at the RSPO said, “RSPO welcomes the Environment Committee’s resolution and the commitment to sustainability that it reflects. This is indeed a global challenge, which requires a collective response. We need to step up the dialogue between stakeholders in markets and producing countries, to ensure that the measures proposed by the EU will make a real impact. Raising the bar towards higher certification standards is important, but so is ensuring that companies deliver on their commitments to sustainable palm oil and make full use of the existing RSPO or RSPO NEXT certification scheme.”

With demand for palm oil said to significantly increase over the next 35 years, the RSPO is promoting the transition from conventional to sustainable palm oil in Europe. According to a statement it ‘welcomes the Committee’s call for an EU-wide commitment to source 100 percent sustainable palm oil by 2020 and for all EU member states to sign the “Amsterdam Declaration.”

RSPO will be hosting the Deforestation – A Sustainable Dilemma event in collaboration with Brussels think-tank Friends of Europe on 21 March.