Research and evidence
As part of our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) System, and in line with the RSPO Theory of Change (ToC), research serves as an important avenue for RSPO to gain insights into the impact of RSPO’s interventions, ensuring continued progress towards RSPO’s goal of making palm oil sustainable.
In 2018, the RSPO released a Research Agenda, which detailed a list of priority research questions for RSPO to test and validate our ToC. The RSPO Research Agenda serves as a comprehensive framework to guide our research efforts, and is aimed at addressing both existing gaps and emerging challenges in the palm oil industry. Following the revision of RSPO ToC and MEL framework, we have also updated our Research Agenda and it is now available for researchers to guide future studies and collaborations. RSPO welcomes all interested parties to engage with this initiative.
Our approach to research
At RSPO, whenever we commission research, we request our researchers to follow and apply our Research Ethics to ensure that our ethical standards and procedures for research are upheld.
Aside from our commissioned research, we also continue to encourage independent researchers to take up the other key research questions that are listed in the RSPO Research Agenda.
Are you a researcher interested in conducting research on RSPO?
Fill out our Research Request Form and our team will respond within 10 business days.
View reports and research articles
Visit our Research Library to view research commissioned by RSPO, journal reports and articles of independently conducted research, and Benchmark Reports that compare the performance of sustainable palm oil standards in the industry.
Contact us
If you have questions or comments about RSPO’s research work, please email our Research Team.
Research documents
Photo Credit: RSPO/SayanCHUENUDOMSAVAD/Jonathan Perugia
