Fifth Annual European Roundtable to take place in London

Next month marks RSPO’s fifth annual European Roundtable, which will be held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in London on 13 June. Together with delegates from around the world, this year’s event calls for partnerships and innovation to help deliver the EU target to use 100% CSPO by 2020 and reduce deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil production, while supporting livelihoods and economic development.

In addition to completing the Roundtable agenda, RSPO will be hosting a series of workshops and training sessions Monday 12 June. This is an opportunity for members to get up to speed with the new PalmTrace system, network with fellow members and contribute to the development of the RSPO Theory of Change; a tool being developed to assist RSPO in planning, monitoring and evaluation. Seats for these sessions are limited so be sure to pre-register.

On Tuesday 13 June, the RSPO will engage in its first ever interactive dialogue with the Complaints Panel, presenting an opportunity for members and guests to gain insight and understanding of the RSPO Complaints mechanism and related procedures. The Principles & Criteria (P&C) 2018 review process will also take place, providing a platform for Q&A and discussion with Task Force members. Additionally, there will be a presentation of highlights from the Annual Communications of Progress (ACOP) report and a debate on the respect of Human Rights on Palm Oil Plantations, with speakers from Amnesty International, UNICEF, Mars, Cargill and Verité, to name just a few.

Leading up to this year’s European Roundtable, RSPO will be interviewing guest speakers on key issues in the palm oil sector and getting their perspective on solutions that contribute to delivering on commitments to 100% CSPO uptake in Europe, by 2020.

RSPO recently spoke with Christopher Kip; Child Rights & Business Specialist at UNICEF, who leads projects with international brands and local producers on child rights in business practices across various supply chains, including palm oil. Christopher will facilitate dialogue on child rights in the palm oil sector at the European Roundtable and share a few aspects of the challenges and opportunities that the industry faces on the matter, such as ensuring decent working conditions for parents, adequate living conditions for workers and their families, access to basic services for affected communities and how these issues impact children. Please click here to discover more about this subject and our conversation with Christopher.

For more information on this year’s European Roundtable, please visit http://eurt.rspo.org/ or click here to register.