World's Five Biggest Palm Oil Growers Agree to Moratorium in High Carbon Areas

The five biggest palm oil growers in the world agreed to not develop palm oil in high carbon stock areas while the High Carbon Stock Study is being conducted. The five growers are Asian Agri, IOI Corporation Berhad, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, Musim Mas Group and Sime Darby Plantation. They are funding the study with agribusiness groups Cargill and Wilmar International, and the consumer goods company Unilever. The 12-month long HCS Study will give information on greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental issues. The study will look at four key areas: above ground biomass, soil carbon, remote sensing and socio-economics. A steering committee is overseeing the study.   The five growers, who are already members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), have launched and signed the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto which commits signatories to sustainable palm oil production. The Manifesto demands no deforestation and the protection of peat area. It has three objectives:

• To build traceable and transparent supply chains
• To speed up the time when there is no deforestation through conserving high carbon stock forests and protecting peat areas
• To increase the focus on driving beneficial economic change and to ensure a positive social impact on people and communities

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Gina-Marie Cheeseman is a central California-based journalist who writes about sustainability, environmental issues, and healthy living. With a degree in journalism and a passion for social responsibility, she writes for a number of online publications. She believes that collaboration between the public and private sectors can help solve many problems facing the planet and its people. Mashable.com named Cheeseman as one of the “75 Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter.”