I wrote to Lord Mandelson in May 2009 and received this reply(below) in October 2009 which was a little disappointing time wise, however it is a lengthy reply and at last answers my questions.
I was delighted to find that the Government are funding a two year project with the RSPO to review and improve the criteria of ‘sustainable palm oil’. This is very important, as we have found that the criteria currently in place by the RSPO is not sufficient. It has loopholes and does not properly address the issues of current ‘unsustainable plantations’ as these planations will perhaps be considered ‘sustainable’ in a few years time. The plantation owners/buyers will therefore get away with deforestation and climate change issues. The RSPO currently seems to be an organisation in which Manufacturers and Plantations owners can hide behind, and show that they are ‘doing something good’ but it’s regulations are not tight enough to properly manage unsustainable palm oil use and growth. Hopefully this is one of the issues the government will address.
I was also very happy with the considerable donations from the Government to GRASP (Great Apes Survival Partnership) plus their knowledge and collaboration with many known and trusted charities and aid organisations.
Please read the letter I received below (click to open and use your back button in your browser to come back to this page) and do not hesitate to have your say in my comments box below….
