As we celebrate RSPO’s 20th year since being founded in 2004, it is a good moment to look back to the very beginning of our global partnership.
As someone who has been immersed in the world of sustainability for most of my professional life, I’m still astonished to think about the visionaries who had come together in that fateful year, to respond to the monumental challenge of transforming a key global commodity sector. I continue to be inspired by the founding values of those earliest days – the scale of ambition, the far-reaching vision, and the collective passion to drive the sustainable palm oil agenda forward.
Two decades on, RSPO has grown immensely – our kinship counts almost 6000 members from 103 nations and territories across the world, representing every link in the palm oil value chain. The learnings and challenges we’ve had on our 20 year sustainability journey have fortified us with the expertise, tools and robust systems to spark change in the industry, showing how sustainably produced palm oil can be a true agent of transformation for our planet and people.
Today, we have preserved over 300,000 hectares of forests within conservation areas, and transitioned nearly five million hectares of palm oil landscapes to sustainable production. Our efforts have helped uplift and empower over half a million workers, their families, and Indigenous communities, through better livelihoods anchored by sustainability practices and principles.
Our journey is far from over. Together, we face a world challenged by climate and conflict. What it takes to shape a sustainable future grows more complex with each passing year. These challenges force us to step up and scale solutions to reach an equitable and eco-centric world.
We’ve often talked about how much RSPO has changed. Yet the one thing that remains constant is our shared values – values which brought us together in our foundational days, and which continue to put the wind in our sails to advance us, even in challenging seas.
On this special occasion, I call on our stakeholders to reflect on this common bond, and be proud of this global partnership that has done remarkable work for two decades – and will continue to do so over the next 20 years and beyond.
