Stepping up efforts to encourage sustainable palm oil consumption in China

RSPO is stepping up its efforts on multiple fronts to promote sustainable palm oil consumption and biodiversity conservation to consumers and businesses in China by organising a sustainable palm oil publicity campaign called “Our Choice”, in Beijing Chaoyang Joy City on 24 January 2021.

The initiative was a collaboration with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products (CFNA), and the China-UK Collaboration on the International Forest Investment and Trade Programme (InFIT).

The campaign highlighted the significance of sustainable palm oil production in improving the livelihood of small-scale farmers in producing countries and protecting biodiversity. Quizzes were also conducted to publicise the supermarkets and brands that are supporting sustainable palm oil. Through this fun and engaging activity, consumers got to know more about the close relationship between palm oil and their daily lives, while encouraging them to support the brands and businesses that support sustainable palm oil.

The campaign also aims to inspire more enterprises to join the ranks of RSPO and start their sustainable palm oil procurement journeys. Brochures were also handed out to explain the market demand, development prospect, end-use, and the supply chain certification system.

In recent years, RSPO has carried out various initiatives to promote sustainable palm oil in China and to encourage consumers and businesses to pay attention to environmental protection in the country and palm-producing nations. RSPO has also shown its strong support to the promotion of green and sustainable consumption through its participation in various events and initiatives, such as the New Consumption Forum hosted by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA) in Shanghai last year, and its continuous support to the "Guide for Chinese Enterprises Towards Sustainable Consumption" formulated by CFNA.

Since the establishment of the China Sustainable Palm Oil Alliance by RSPO, CFNA, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) China in 2018, which aims to create a win-win platform for promoting sustainable palm oil in China, 15 enterprises and stakeholders from different fields have joined the Alliance. As of 31 December 2020, the number of RSPO members in China has increased by 38%, from 173 in 2019 to 239.

China is the third-largest palm oil consumer and the second-largest palm oil importer in the world. Its consumption of palm oil amounts to six million tonnes per year, and its palm oil mainly depends on imports.

Based on RSPO’s ACOP report, in 2018, a total of 131,898 tonnes of sustainable palm oil in China was certified by RSPO, accounting for less than 2%; however, in 2019, the certified proportion reached approximately 5%.

Moving forward, in 2021, RSPO will continue to intensify its efforts to promote sustainable consumption of palm oil in China and strengthen cooperation with CFNA and WWF China, as well as work closely with multi-stakeholders to take a strategic development path in promoting sustainable palm oil at multiple levels.