Mongabay.com - 11 June 2015

The reputation of oil palm business group Sawit Sumbermas Sarana (SSS), a holding of one of Indonesia’s richest men, has in recent days taken hits on multiple fronts, with a pair of NGOs separately accusing the firm of violating various sustainability commitments it is party to.

The criticism highlights holes in both the Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP), a high-profile sustainability pact to which palm giants Wilmar, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), Musim Mas, Asian Agri and Cargill as well as the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) are signatories, and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an eco-certification initiative that requires companies to abide by certain social and environmental criteria when opening up new lands for plantations. Read more...