Assessing the potential additionality of certification by the Round table on Responsible Soybeans and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Abstract

In the original version the unit labels for RTRS and RSPO in figure 4(b) Adoption were not properly marked as '%' and the values for RSPO adoption were not converted into percentages (e.g. 10 instead of 0.10). The corrected version of figure 4 should read as below. No other values in this figure have changed. AbstractMulti-stakeholder roundtables offering certification programs are promising voluntary governance mechanisms to address sustainability issues associated with international agricultural supply chains. Yet, little is known about whether roundtable certifications confer additionality, the benefits of certification beyond what would be expected from policies and practices currently in place. Here, we examine the potential additionality of the Round table on Responsible Soybeans (RTRS) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in mitigating conversion of native vegetation to cropland. We develop a metric of additionality based on business as usual land cover change dynamics and roundtable standard stringency relative to existing policies. We apply this metric to all countries with RTRS (n=8) and RSPO (n=12) certified production in 2013-2014, as well as countries that have no certified production but are among the top ten global producers in terms of soy (n=2) and oil palm (n=2). We find RSPO and RTRS both have substantially higher levels of stringency than existing national policies except in Brazil and Uruguay. In regions where these certification standards are adopted, the mean estimated rate of tree cover conversion to the target crop is similar for both standards. RTRS has higher mean relative stringency than the RSPO, yet RSPO countries have slightly higher enforcement levels. Therefore, mean potential additionality of RTRS and RSPO is similar across regions. Notably, countries with the highest levels of additionality have some adoption. However, with extremely low adoption rates (0.41% of 2014 global harvested area), RTRS likely has lower impact than RSPO (14%). Like most certification programs, neither roundtable is effectively targeting smallholder producers. To improve natural ecosystem protection, roundtables could target adoption to regions with low levels of environmental governance and high rates of forest-to-cropland conversion.

Environmentalism in the Periphery: Institutional Embeddedness and Deforestation among Fifteen Palm Oil Producers, 1990 – 2012

“…We consider several policy and practical implications of our findings that complement the theoretical perspectives we engage. Palm Oil, for example, has seen improvement in forest loss and other environmental consequences of palm oil production among its voluntary participants (Garrett et al 2016). However, it has a very low adoption rate.…”

Managing fire risk during drought: the influence of certification and El Niño on fire-driven forest conversion for oil palm in Southeast Asia

“…By 2016, the RSPO had certified 2.83 Mha of oil palm that produced 10.8 million tons of palm oil, or approximately 17 % of global palm oil production, with > 90 % of certified areas in Southeast Asia (RSPO, 2016). Specific principles and criteria of RSPO certification promote sustainable palm oil production and processing (Garrett et al, 2016;RSPO, 2004RSPO, , 2015b. Among other provisions, RSPO certification prohibits conversion of primary forests and forests with a high conservation value (HCV) and bans fire use for land clearing in compliance with the Indonesian moratorium on fire (RSPO, 2007;RSPO, 2013;Edwards and Heiduk, 2015).…”

Oil palm and biodiversity: a situation analysis by the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force

“…Understanding the typology of 'smallholder' producers is important considering their contribution to oil palm planted areas around the world (see Figure 8 and case study below "Who are the palm oil smallholders in Indonesia?") and because they produce around 40% of global palm oil (42). Figure 8.…”

“…Future research is needed to understand the role of smallholder oil palm farmers, who produce around 40% of global palm oil (90), in forest cover loss. (95,96).…”