概要

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil (RSPO) is a voluntary stakeholder initiative on the palm oil supply chain. It is a response from agro-business firms and international environmental NGOs to the dramatic conditions of production in South East Asia. The RSPO certified 'sustainable' 21% of global palm oil production in 2015. This article assesses the impact of the RSPO certification on transnational governance, social equity and biodiversity conservation. As the premium is far below certification costs, only the largest producers – 73 firms controlling more than 2,6 million hectares – have been certified to get access to Western markets. Certification has reified as « sustainable » the industrial agro-business model on several thousands of hectares and has integrated this oil into the agro-industry. RSPO has empowered local communities to accept or reject plantations on their territory. However, when the plantations were established, certification did not necessarily provide more benefits to locals than conventional plantations. In addition, excluded from the certification, local firms have not benefitted from it. Regarding biodiversity conservation, certification has promoted a segregated landscape with large-scale plantations and conservation areas. At the global level, this could make sense as large oil palm plantations are very productive. However, this fails to recognize that the main biodiversity conservation gains are by supporting the smallholders and that this promotes the consumerist society at the root causes of biodiversity decline. At the field level, impact on conservation is very small as producers use strategies to limit the areas they have to protect and as oil palm plantations are ecological barriers. To mitigate those problems, international environmental NGOs developed remote sensing tools and engaged with the largest producers. After more than 10 years of existence, it is yet to be proven that this top-down approach can curb deforestation. Actors should go beyond RSPO certification, tackle local factors of decision-making, collaborate with state governments and inform consumers.