Swiss Review 6/2020

Swiss Review / November 2020 / No.6 29 1990 to 2010. Palm oil is found in nu- merous foods, cosmetic products, and detergents. It is robust, heat-re- sistant, stable, odourless and neu- tral-tasting, hence its popularity among manufacturers. For Indonesia, palm oil is also a key export on which millions of live- lihoods depend. Malaysia and Indo- nesia together produce 85 per cent of all the palmoil usedworldwide. This is because oil palms only grow in tropical climates. However, NGOs have repeatedly drawn attention to the dire impact that high demand is having on the environment, biodi- versity, and indigenous populations. Palm oil monocultures, for example, are often linked to illegal rainforest destruction and the displacement of local communities. Economic incentives to promote sustainability “We have been promoting sustainable palm oil cultivation for quite some time already,” says Damian Oettli, Head ofMarkets atWWF Switzerland. In 2004, the WWF co-founded the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) together with other stakehold- ers including producers, banks, NGOs, manufacturers and traders. The RSPO introduced a certification scheme, the RSPO Standard, to help limit the de- struction of species-rich tropical for- ests through a set of minimum re- quirements that must be met to ensure sustainable palm oil produc- tion. These include criteria stating that no primary forestsmay be cleared for newplantations, and that workers’ rights and the rights of local commu- nities be respected. Swiss importers have been buying palm oil mainly from RSPO-certified sources for a number of years already. “And doing so is in their interests. No one wants products at the expense of rainforest,” says Stefan Kausch, pro- Critic Rudi Berli: “They are clearing the rainforest and destroying nature for the sake of palm oil.” ject manager at Palm Oil Network Switzerland – an organisation found- ed inMarch 2020 with the aim of pro- moting the sustainable development of palm oil production. Members of Palm Oil Network Switzerland in- clude companies such as Nestlé, Mi- gros, Coop and Nutrisuisse. “We also want to continuemodifying the RSPO Standard,” adds Kausch. Rudi Berli from Uniterre has a dif- ferent opinion: “The scheme is just a form of corporate greenwashing. Nothing has changed on the ground. Rainforest is still being destroyed.” This is why the referendum commit- tee have also criticised the criteria stipulated in the free trade agreement. There is no mechanism for punishing violations either, they say. The WWF has reservations about the agreement too, but has given it a cautious thumbs-up ahead of the referendum, according toDamianOettli. “Environ- mental problems are hard to solve without market access,” he says. Oettli believes that certification schemes are very helpful for trade, if insufficient: “The RSPOStandard has already been around for 16 years, but small-scale producers that don’t fit Supporter Jan Atteslander: “The agreement with Indonesia goes the furthest in terms of sustainability.”