India, China increasingly importing palm oil from sustainable sources

This was reported in a Rountable on Sustainable Palm Oil report

India and China, two of the world’s biggest purchaser of palm oil are now increasingly looking at sourcing the same from responsible and sustainable sources, those which are not linked to peat land and rainforest destruction.

According to a report of Rountable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an NGO working to promote sustainable palm oil, several big Indian companies have started sourcing palm oil from sustainable sources or have expressed a commitment to do the same.

It said that India imports around 7.2 million tonnes of palm oil each year which is produced in 2 million hectares of land, while China imports 5.9 million tonnes of palm oil produced from 1.5 million hectares of land. However, RSPO was not able to provide details of proportion of palm oil imported from sustainable sources in total annual imports either for India or China. The report however claimed that Unilever, Cargill and Walmart have all started sourcing a part of their annual palm oil requirement from sustainable sources.

In India, the report claimed that Godrej announced its commitment and intent to procure certified sustainable palm and also to study the procedure for certifying domestically produced palm oil. “Subsequently, Ruchi Soya, Adani Wilmar Ltd, Kamani Oil Industries Pvt Ltd and VVF Ltd have also expressed their commitment to import palm oil from sustainable sources.

Independently, though, none of the claims could be verified.