6月初，資產總和超過5兆美元的機構投資人與全球知名企業聯合致函「永續棕櫚油圓桌會議」（Sustainable Palm Oil，RSPO），要求更嚴格的永續棕櫚油把關機制，禁止棕櫚油業砍伐森林和泥炭地。
簽署此信函的公司包括Dunkin Donuts母公司、通用磨坊、生產M&M巧克力的瑪氏食品、星巴克、家樂氏、高露潔-棕欖、花王、百事可樂、寶僑和嬌生等耳熟能詳的品牌。
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| 全球最大食品加工業嘉吉集團（Cargill）在印尼的毀林行為。圖片來源：Rainforest Action Network。（CC BY-NC 2.0） |
棕櫚油是全球半數包裝商品的主要成份之一，從化妝品到餅乾糖果等應用廣泛；全世界的森林和泥炭地，也因為大規模改種植棕櫚油而快速消失。
根據美國環保署統計，每年總額高達440億美元的棕櫚油業已經是森林砍伐的最大推手，佔全球溫室氣體排放量15-20%。此外，森林砍伐導致物種滅絕、土壤侵蝕，更侵犯當地居民的地權。
RSPO第三次歐洲圓桌會議在今年6月3日於阿姆斯特丹舉行，共有280個企業團體、棕櫚油供應鏈廠商和進口國代表參加。與會各界認同RSPO認證的必要性，但也強調目前的RSPO仍有不足之處。
主因是目前的RSPO標準尚未包含保護泥炭地和高含碳森林的措施，而且執法不甚嚴謹。
此次全球各大民生消費品牌的聯合信函，內容由紐約州審計長Thomas DiNapoli辦公室和綠色世紀資本管理公司擬定，其均為氣候風險投資人聯盟（INCR）成員之一。INCR隸屬於責任環境經濟聯盟（Ceres）之下，由超過110位投資人組成，關注永續相關挑戰的財務風險和經濟機會。
根據RSPO本月18日發表的聲明，RSPO理事會近期已宣布將增加一套自願準則，以加強既有的泥炭地破壞、森林砍伐和原住民人員的保障。
紐約州審計長DiNapoli表示，「投資人希望所投資的公司能以RSPO認證作為永續商業策略，但必須先加強RSPO的認證機制。」DiNapoli認為，堅強的RSPO標準可以在讓棕櫚油業成長的同時，將環境和人權風險降到最低。
Institutional investors representing over $5 trillion in assets have joined some of the world’s most recognizable consumer brands, such as PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, to demand higher standards for certifying the sustainable production of palm oil.
Forests and peatlands are being converted to palm plantations that yield the lucrative oil – a key ingredient in about half of all packaged goods, from cosmetics to candy.
In a letter earlier this month to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, RSPO, investors and companies called on the London-based sustainability certification body for the palm oil industry to prohibit deforestation and peatland clearance for certified palm oil production and include additional environmental and human rights protections.
RSPO standards currently do not include protections for peatlands or high carbon stock forests, and have an inconsistent record of enforcement.
Company signatories to the letter include: Albertsons-Safeway, ConAgra, Coop Switzerland, Dunkin’ Brands, General Mills, Mars, Inc., Seventh Generation, Starbucks, The Kellogg Company, Walmart and five of the top 10 corporate purchasers of palm oil globally: Colgate-Palmolive, Kao Corporation (Japan), PepsiCo, The Procter & Gamble Company, and The Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies.
The letter was organized by the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Green Century Capital Management, both members of Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk, a group of more than 110 investors focused on addressing the financial risks and seizing the economic opportunities associated with tackling sustainability challenges.
DiNapoli said, “Investors want their portfolio companies to have RSPO certification as part of a sustainable business strategy, but in order to enhance its credibility the certification program needs to improve.”
The $44 billion per year palm oil industry has become a leading driver of deforestation, which causes 15-20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Deforestation contributes to species extinction, soil erosion, and conflicts with local communities over land rights.
DiNapoli said, “Stronger RSPO standards would allow the palm oil industry to grow, while minimizing risk to the environment and human rights.”
A new drive to address palm oil’s global sustainability challenges emerged at RSPO’s third European Roundtable held June 3 in Amsterdam, attended by 280 industries, NGOs and stakeholders from palm oil producing and importing countries. While all parties agreed that RSPO certified sustainable palm oil is part of the answer and acknowledged the work done by RSPO so far, they stressed the importance of change.
In a statement June 18, the RSPO said, “The RSPO Board of Governors has recently announced its intention to adopt a set of additional voluntary criteria, aimed at further enhancing the existing certification requirements on peat, deforestation and indigenous people’s rights.”
※ 全文及圖片詳見：ENS
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
