RSPO Partners With GGC and GIZ to Integrate Climate Impact Reduction within RSPO Certification for Thai Oil Palm Growers

Bangkok, 11 November 2024 –  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today to enhance the climate-focused partnership between Global Green Chemicals Public Company Limited (GGC), GIZ, and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) during the RT2024 conference in Bangkok held from 11 to 13 November. The theme at this year’s conference, Partners for the Next 20: Innovating for Impact, speaks to an international platform of stakeholders in the palm oil industry to engage, collaborate, and share visions for promoting sustainable palm oil production across the entire sector.

The MoU aims to enhance collaborative partnerships for integrating climate impact reduction within RSPO Certification through the Sustainable Palm Oil Production and Procurement Project on Climate Mitigation and Adaptation (SPOPP CLIMA), funded by GGC, a leading company in Thailand committed to achieving carbon neutrality. GIZ will lead the implementation of the SPOPP CLIMA initiative.

The project aims to serve as a model for oil palm smallholders in Thailand by promoting low-carbon farming practices. It includes the development of a carbon footprint calculation tool for fresh fruit bunches to measure emissions and eventually develop reduction strategies, in line with guidelines from the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation (TGO). Additionally, the project will create a training curriculum on carbon footprint calculation for farmers and establish demonstration plots to showcase suitable low-carbon farming practices. 

Francisco Naranjo, Head of Technical and Smallholder Department, RSPO commented, “The MoU between GGC, GIZ, and RSPO highlights the importance of multiple stakeholder collaboration in empowering smallholders to adopt sustainable practices, positioning them as key players in combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions derived from palm oil production.”

Kridsada Prasertsuko, Managing Director Global Green Chemical PCL announced: “As a leading Oleochemical producer, GGC strives to achieve its sustainability vision, which is in line with the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development that covers economic, social, and environmental goals, we aim to build trust in sustainable business growth, and to create value and enhance business standards to be accepted both internationally and globally. GGC has worked with GIZ and RSPO to support our oil palm smallholders in reducing carbon emission and carbon footprints.  Together, our goal is to achieve 20% carbon emission reduction by Year 2030 and achieve Net Zero by Year 2050, together with promoting sustainable oil palm production in accordance with the European Union Deforestation-free Regulations (EUDR), effective on 1 January 2025. This cooperation will not only reduce climate impact on the agricultural sector, but also enhance sustainability to the oil palm industry and promote the image of the Thai oil palm industry in the global market.”

Nana Kuenkel, Agriculture and Food Cluster Coordinator, GIZ Thailand, said: “We aim to shape the transformation of agriculture in Thailand towards sustainable and climate-smart production. The partnership with GGC and RSPO aligns with the cluster’s mission and goal of promoting food security, enhancing livelihoods and resilience of farmers, fostering economic growth while protecting the environment and mitigating climate change. This partnership will lead to a joint development of sustainable, traceable and low carbon value chain, data of carbon footprints and an opportunity for low-carbon oil palm plantation management in the long run.”

Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs, Director-General of the Department of Agriculture (DoA), announced the Department’s commitment to supporting the SPOPP CLIMA initiative through the newly established Crops for the Future and Greenhouse Gas Management in Agriculture Sector Research and Development Division. This division is dedicated to supporting SPOPP CLIMA’s goals by developing a system for verifying and certifying quality standards for oil palm products, as well as creating a model for carbon credit certification in palm oil production.  The MoU will further enhance this collaboration, fostering the development of knowledge, tools, and practices that promote low-carbon, sustainable palm oil production, contributing to the Net Zero goal under Thailand’s Bio-Circular Green Economy (BCG) policy.

Recognising the significance of climate change impacts on the sector, RSPO created the PalmGHG Calculator to help stakeholders in the palm oil industry assess and manage their greenhouse gas emissions. It enables mills and their supply bases to calculate their carbon footprint related to palm oil production and identify opportunities for reducing emissions. Building on what was learnt from developing the RSPO PalmGHG Calculator, this MoU aims to add useful tools specifically for independent smallholders, helping them show their use of low-carbon farming practices.

The MoU aims to integrate the GHG emissions benchmark from smallholder productions into the national net zero strategy of Thailand to enhance the role of palm oil smallholders in contributing to climate mitigation efforts.

SPOPP CLIMA builds upon an earlier project that concluded in 2022. GIZ collaborated with palm oil mill partners and the Department of Agriculture to integrate 1,000 smallholders into the sustainable palm oil supply chain. The success of this project has continued to be seen with six smallholder groups achieving RSPO Certification in 2024.