Activists pressure RSPO to reject Astra Agro Lestari’s membership application | News | Eco-Business

AAL, owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate Jardine Matheson, announced its application to join the RSPO on July 11, less than a fortnight after the company was exposed for land grabbing and growing palm oil on a forest estate by environmental groups.

An investigation by Friends of the Earth (FOE), an international network of local environmental organisations, its Indonesian affiliate WALHI and others, found that AAL subsidiaries were operating without required permits and intimidating local communities defending their land.

The investigation’s findings, released in June, follow a report published in March that found evidence of land grabbing and environmental degradation linked to AAL’s operations in Sulawesi.

In the open letter, co-signed by NGOs from Europe, Asia and Africa, the activists called on the RSPO to suspend AAL’s membership until land conflicts between AAL and local communities in Sulawesi are resolved and grievances addressed.

The alleged AAL violations contravene RSPO rules on what constitutes sustainable palm oil cultivation, particularly the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), the NGOs said.

The AAL has been accused of failing to obtain free, prior and informed consent from communities before converting their lands into oil palm plantations in Central and West Sulawesi.

Consumer goods companies including Hershey’s, Danone, Kellogg, L’Oréal, Mondelez, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble – all of which are RSPO members – have suspended AAL as a supplier in light of the findings.

AAL has denied any wrongdoing, citing inadequate data used in the investigations and disputing claims it operated without the necessary permits.

The company said it operates in accordance with local laws in Indonesia and has not undertaken any expansion or new land clearing since 2015, when it launched its sustainability policy.

The RSPO welcomed AAL’s application and commended the company for its “dedication to sustainability goals” and its progress towards membership in the organisation.

The organisation clarified that there is a significant difference between being a member of the RSPO and being a certified member. To become a member of the RSPO, companies must be assessed on how they plan to address past actions. Only once membership is approved can AAL begin the certification process for each of its plantations and factories, it told Eco-Business.

Gaurav Madan, FOE USA’s forests and lands campaigner, told Eco-Business that the RSPO’s support for AAL membership is indicative of the organization’s historical “accountability deficit.”

He accused the RSPO of certifying companies with “well-documented evidence of abuse” for years and called its complaints system “dysfunctional.” “It takes years for cases to be investigated and recommendations made,” he said. Madan did not provide specific examples.

Madan called for RSPO to publicly announce that membership in the AAL will be denied until the conflicts in Sulawesi are resolved, including the return of land taken without consent.

The open letter stated that granting AAL membership in the RSPO would undermine calls from affected communities for recourse and redress, and would undermine the RSPO as a standards-setting body.

The letter comes six months after the Rainforest Action Network raised concerns that the RSPO was about to relax its standards after announcing it was considering a “flexible and modular approach” to its certification system. The RSPO said its standards, which include the principle of no deforestation, would not be watered down.