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Rabobank reaffirms palm oil commitment

5 Feb 2016

The National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines has published its Final Statement on the dialogue it facilitated last year between Rabobank and Friends of the Earth Netherlands concerning making the palm oil supply chain sustainable.

Rabobank reaffirms palm oil commitment

The National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines has published its Final Statement on the dialogue it facilitated last year between Rabobank and Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) concerning making the palm oil supply chain sustainable. The Final Statement is a balanced representation of this dialogue with which it fully concurs, Rabobank said, and it wholeheartedly accepts the NCP’s recommendations.

Rabobank says it remains dedicated to bringing about cooperation with companies and to seeking dialogue with stakeholders. The NCP states its appreciation for this approach in its Final Statement.

Rabobank said it will furthermore continue to seek dialogue with Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie), even though Friends of the Earth Netherlands appears to be turning its back on the palm oil sector.

“It is specifically the dialogue with stakeholders and business clients in the palm oil supply chain that is leading to a step-by-step movement in the right direction. Working in cooperation to make the palm oil supply chain sustainable has helped result in 20% of global palm oil production now being sustainable,” said Bas Rüter, Director of Sustainability at Rabobank. “Turning your back on the palm oil sector and looking away certainly won’t help the palm oil supply chain become more sustainable.”

Rabobank said it will continue to focus its efforts and policy on making the palm oil sector sustainable, partly in cooperation with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Rabobank went on to say that it expects companies that produce palm oil to fulfil Rabobank’s sustainability requirements and RSPO’s sustainability criteria. If signs emerge that a client may not be fulfilling the sustainability criteria, the bank said, it will ask the client to provide clarification and make it clear that the sustainability criteria must be fulfilled in full.