Derom
Bangun
ABSTRACT
Palm oil is the fasted growing vegetable oil in the
world. The high production growth rate has been driven by the rising demand. The
sizes of oil palm plantation in many countries notably Malaysia, Indonesia, Colombia,
Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Nigeria are rapidly expanding.
At the same time, society in general is getting more
environmentally aware. For instance, smoking seats are no longer available in
aeroplanes. Global trend is to implement sustainable development with emphasis
on environment. For businnes, this means additional responbility in the domain
of environment and society. Financial viability alone is no longer sifficient. Palm
oil industry is facing the challenges brought about by the sustainability
trend. The pressure and the urgency are obvious and in many cases expressed in
such a way that seems palm oil producers are careless or irresponsible. In a
worse situation, operators of oil palm plantations are accused of wrong doing
against environment. This situation creates fear.
This paper will discuss why sustainability is demanded by
the world society, how sustainable palm oil is defined, what is RSPO’s
principle and criteria and how companies are supposed to implement the principles
and criteria. The impact to the cost of production will also be covered. Having
a clear idea on sustaible production any executive of oil palm plantation can
continue working without fear.
Key : Elaeis guineensis, environment
By : Executive Chairman of Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, Medan, Indonesia