GreenPalm, the certificate trading programme designed to promote sustainable palm oil production by enabling producers to earn more by producing sustainably, has reached an important milestone.

Just 12 over months after trading in GreenPalm certificates began, palm oil producers who are members of the programme and who have met the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) rigorous guidelines for social and environmental sustainability, have earned over $2.1M for their efforts by selling GreenPalm Certificates.

GreenPalm is proving popular because it works alongside existing supply chains.

Once certified by the RSPO, a palm oil producer can register a proportion of its product with GreenPalm. For each tonne of sustainably produced palm oil, the producer is awarded one GreenPalm certificate, which can then be offered for sale online at www.greenpalm.org

The certificates are available to anyone who buys or sells products containing palm oil, including manufacturers and retailers. By bidding for and buying the certificates, they can show they have supported sustainable palm oil production. This allows consumers to choose products that have been ethically sourced.

The palm oil itself is sold, processed and purchased in the usual way. Of course raising $2.1M would not have been possible if purchasers had not begun to buy GreenPalm certificates. No fewer than– retailers and manufacturers have already redeemed GreenPalm certificates – and you can check out who by visiting the ‘Redeemed Certificate Owners’ page in ‘The market’ section of www.greenpalm.org.

Membership of GreenPalm is continuing to rise. More than 60 companies have signed up, from major manufacturers and retailers to food service giants. To check who is a member, visit the ‘GreenPalm Members’ page of ‘The market’ section of www.greenpalm.org.

GreenPalm is suitable for any company that sells or makes items containing palm oil or palm kernel oil. For some organisations, GreenPalm is the only feasible supply chain option that is endorsed by the RSPO.

Before palm oil reaches retailers and manufacturers, in more than three out of five cases it is processed into fractions, blends and derivatives. Segregating the product for further processing would normally cost far more than buyers would be prepared to pay. Until this changes, GreenPalm’s certificate trading initiative offers many organisations the only a commercially viable way to support sustainability.

A key benefit of GreenPalm is that is does not reward only the producers whose output is exported, but also the smallholders whose product is consumed locally, giving all producers an incentive to operate sustainably. And every certificate bought includes a $1 donation to the RSPO to support its important work. So far, this has raised more than $180,000.

To find out more about GreenPalm, visit www.greenpalm.org or call Bob Norman on +44 (0)–82 332013 or +44 (0) 7776–4731.