The Sustainable Palm Oil Choice (SPOC)

The latest episode of The Sustainable Commodities Podcast has landed. Me and Judith Murdoch speak to leading conservation scientist and Managing Director of Borneo Futures Sdn Bhd, Erik Meijaard. Erik is also the co-chair of the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force, and lead author on a new IUCN report - Exploring the future of vegetable oils. I've been citing Erik's 2018 palm oil report for years, so it was great to sit down and chat about his latest research. We discuss the findings of the report, which explores the implications of oil crops - looking at fats, forests, forecasts and futures! Topics covered include the environmental pressures caused by oils and fats, taking a holistic view on oil crops, and why there’s no such thing as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ oil crop. I love this episode, and if you haven't listened to the podcast yet, it's a great place to start - available now from all the major platforms. #sustainability #biodiversity #deforestation

Trichoderma, a fungus, acts as a biological agent preventing the spread of multiple diseases in oil palm trees because of its anti-pathological properties. It can be procured from the soil around bamboo trees, and grown using rice as a medium. Trichoderma can be applied both as a solid and liquid fertilizer, acting as a substitute for synthetic chemical fertilizers. 🌴 💧 Recently, the Solidaridad team in Indonesia introduced this useful fungus to farmers at a farmers' field school in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, which saw participants from the villages of Krayan Bahagia and Krayan Makmur Villages in Paser district. In the session, the villagers were briefed on the many benefits of trichoderma and how to breed and cultivate it at home (using kitchen waste, rice-washed water and brown sugar solution). 👩🌾 👨🌾 Solidaridad Indonesia | Yeni Fitriyanti | Suksma Ratri #SustainablePalmOil #PathwaysToProsperity #RegenerativeAgriculture

How do monocultures affect ecosystems, communities, and specifically women? What are women defenders and their communities doing to stop the destruction of their territory? Why is it imperative that we talk about this and do something about it? This new report discusses the struggle of women and their communities on oil palm, sugarcane, cantaloupe, watermelon, and banana plantations in Honduras and Guatemala. https://lnkd.in/eYChGdds Paul Wolvekamp UN Women

If you are interested in joining the event, please sign up here: HTTP://bit.ly/FutureOilsCOP16

A recent systematic review of 67 publications examines jurisdictional approaches (JAs) across various academic fields, countries and commodities as a potential model for sustainable agriculture. JAs mark a shift from traditional farm-level interventions to integrated multi-stakeholder initiatives at sub-national levels, aligning environmental, social, and economic policies to foster sustainable land management. Key findings: 🔍JAs offer a broader approach to governing land use than supply chain-focused methods, with potential to slow environmental harm and encourage more sustainable resource use. 🔍Research on JAs is often practitioner-led, focusing on how to improve JAs, sometimes at the expense of examining their limitations and challenges more critically. 🔍Negotiating conflicting stakeholder interests is challenging due to complex power dynamics but is crucial for enabling ongoing progress. 🔍Evaluating JAs is challenging due to their open-ended nature and lack of clearly defined goals or timelines.  Full report👉 https://t.ly/PUDyk Authors: Kate MacDonald Rachael Diprose Janina Grabs Philip Schleifer Justin Alger Joyce Brandão Bahruddin Ben Cashore Adelina Chandra Paul Cisneros Deborah Delgado Pugley, PhD Rachael Garrett William Hopkins

🌿 Orangutans, Palm Oil, and Deforestation: What do we know? What challenges lie ahead? How can we tackle them together? Join us as we dive into these critical issues with Michelle Desilets, Executive Director at Orangutan Land Trust, as we explore the impact of palm oil, nickel mining, and deforestation on orangutans. 🦧 Listen to the full episode of The Sustainable Commodities Podcast to learn more! https://lnkd.in/dHraE4Yi #PalmOil #Deforestation #Orangutans #Sustainability #SustainabilityPodcast

Today is #WorldFoodDay. Food is essential for our survival and also holds social and cultural significance. We cannot overlook the great joy it brings to our lives. However, the global food system faces significant challenges. Many people lack sufficient food every day, while approximately one-third of all food is wasted throughout the production and consumption chain. Considering the crisis point that we have reached, we must act now to transform our food system into one that is equitable, sustainable, and prioritizes future generations. But how we move forward remains a difficult question. The graphic below shows 10 possible future scenarios that were explored in an IUCN report on the state of the vegetable oil industry https://lnkd.in/eEmraBx3

Great to see so much traction on Solidaridad's consultation paper: Procurement for Prosperity in Palm Oil Value Chains. Yesterday we discussed at the London Zoo: In a global sector that depends on market mechanisms, how can we establish a system that truly includes and supports growers and smallholder farmers to produce in a more sustainable way? Key is to shift from a list of sourcing conditions that buyers demand from their suppliers, towards an inclusive procurement system. We have developed a set of principles to initiate this change. But we don't have all the solutions and are curious for new insights, so please let us know your thoughts: https://lnkd.in/edWdznid Thanks to Efeca | B Corp certified 2023 and Zoological Society of London (ZSL) for co-hosting this event with us.

I am very excited about the launch of the Spanish translation of our report on the Future of Vegetable Oils at the #COP16. What happens in South and Central America with regards to oil crops is going to have important impacts on the region's biodiversity and people. Register for the event if you are the COP, or pass this on to colleagues (media, scientists, policy makers, practitioners and others) who will be. Douglas Sheil Heleen Van Den Hombergh Helen Newing Marcus Colchester Verina Ingram Malika Virah-Sawmy Pascale Bonzom Angela A. IUCN

https://lnkd.in/gKjddmWr