150
10.4 Results
10.4.1 Interviews with RSPO-Certified Firms
According to the interviewees, the main management changes that companies were
obliged to undertake in order to comply with the RSPO standards are to:
• Build the certification standard upon their existing ISO 14001 standard (for those
companies that were already ISO 14001 certified).
• Create a sustainability team (i.e., sustainability managers, officers, directors).
• Introduce good environmental practices (such as recycling and use of byproducts), which saved costs in some cases.
• Collect data and document properly their environmental, labor, and social
practices.
• Improve labor standards (e.g., safety
9
) and the social aspects of their business
practices (e.g., informality in the labor force).
• Include biodiversity concerns in the management of their plantations.
The ease of compliance with the RSPO standards varied between companies and
depended to a great extent on the production practices they had already adopted.
Companies that already employed good management practices required relatively
few changes to comply with the RSPO requirements. For some aspects, such as
pesticide use or work safety standards, complying with RSPO standards did not
require any modification in the existing management practices of the plantations, as
the company was already “doing things beyond the requirements.”
For example, during the interviews, a large producer mentioned that it is their
standard business practice to consult their clients once a year about the modifications that need to be done in their current operations. As early as the early 2000s,
their clients indicated a preference for adopting the ISO 14001 standard.
Subsequently the company took part in the early RSPO discussions (2004) and was
one of the first to obtain RSPO certification (2008) mainly due to concerns over
deforestation that were articulated by their European customers. By that time the
company was already ISO14001 certified and had adopted good social practices. As
a result it was relatively straightforward for them to comply with the RSPO standard. It was also expressed that the RSPO certification process can be achieved
more easily for large companies that are involved in several stages of the palm oil
value chain (i.e., production, shipping, refining).
Some of the good environmental practices adopted by the producers during the
RSPO certification process can have a ripple effect on ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. One such example is the conservation of riparian forests.
According to Malaysian legislation, riparian forests should be protected accordingly, but that is rarely the case. However, the RSPO standards require the conservation of riparian forests, which are essentially buffer zones between streams and
9 RSPO-certified companies are now providing training and safety equipment to their employees.
R. Moreno-Peñaranda et al.
10.4 Results
10.4.1 Interviews with RSPO-Certified Firms
According to the interviewees, the main management changes that companies were
obliged to undertake in order to comply with the RSPO standards are to:
• Build the certification standard upon their existing ISO 14001 standard (for those
companies that were already ISO 14001 certified).
• Create a sustainability team (i.e., sustainability managers, officers, directors).
• Introduce good environmental practices (such as recycling and use of byproducts), which saved costs in some cases.
• Collect data and document properly their environmental, labor, and social
practices.
• Improve labor standards (e.g., safety
9
) and the social aspects of their business
practices (e.g., informality in the labor force).
• Include biodiversity concerns in the management of their plantations.
The ease of compliance with the RSPO standards varied between companies and
depended to a great extent on the production practices they had already adopted.
Companies that already employed good management practices required relatively
few changes to comply with the RSPO requirements. For some aspects, such as
pesticide use or work safety standards, complying with RSPO standards did not
require any modification in the existing management practices of the plantations, as
the company was already “doing things beyond the requirements.”
For example, during the interviews, a large producer mentioned that it is their
standard business practice to consult their clients once a year about the modifications that need to be done in their current operations. As early as the early 2000s,
their clients indicated a preference for adopting the ISO 14001 standard.
Subsequently the company took part in the early RSPO discussions (2004) and was
one of the first to obtain RSPO certification (2008) mainly due to concerns over
deforestation that were articulated by their European customers. By that time the
company was already ISO14001 certified and had adopted good social practices. As
a result it was relatively straightforward for them to comply with the RSPO standard. It was also expressed that the RSPO certification process can be achieved
more easily for large companies that are involved in several stages of the palm oil
value chain (i.e., production, shipping, refining).
Some of the good environmental practices adopted by the producers during the
RSPO certification process can have a ripple effect on ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. One such example is the conservation of riparian forests.
According to Malaysian legislation, riparian forests should be protected accordingly, but that is rarely the case. However, the RSPO standards require the conservation of riparian forests, which are essentially buffer zones between streams and
9 RSPO-certified companies are now providing training and safety equipment to their employees.
R. Moreno-Peñaranda et al.