Sustainable and Responsible Palm Oil
Cargill is Committed to Sustainable Palm Production
Palm oil is the world’s most widely used and versatile vegetable oil. Produced from the oil palm tree, it is the highest yielding oilseed crop and is primarily grown in Indonesia and Malaysia, which together account for about 80 percent of the world’s production. It is mainly used for food applications such as cooking oil, margarine, shortening and confectionery, and is relied on by millions of people, especially in developing countries like India and China, to help feed their families. Palm oil is also used in non-food items including soap and cosmetics and more recently for biofuels.
Cargill owns and operates five palm plantations – two in Indonesia and three in Papua New Guinea – as well as 12 palm oil refineries across the world which buy, refine, process, and market palm oil products from our own and other plantations.
The global demand for palm oil has seen a rapid growth in the area under cultivation. This has raised environmental and social concerns including forest and habitat conservation, peat land conversion, the use of fire to clear land, the need to protect waterways and the rights of indigenous communities.
We believe that palm oil should be produced sustainably and we are committed to responsible and sustainable production on our own plantations. The palm oil supply chain is complex and we recognize that all parts of the palm oil supply chain need to work together to help ensure palm oil is produced in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
We are actively supporting the RSPO and the efforts of participants from the palm oil supply chain to establish and promote sustainable palm production. We have already made progress in preparing our plantations to meet RSPO Principles & Criteria and are working towards achieving certification as quickly as possible. More…
Supporting sustainable palm production on our own plantations
We have committed not to plant on high conservation value forests (HCVF and not develop new plantations on peat land. We have a strict no-burn policy for land preparation and are working to protect biodiversity. We support and respect the rights of employees, local people and communities as well as contributing to local development by helping improve access to health and education. More…
Protecting endangered animal species and natural habitats
We are committed to responsible environmental stewardship by ensuring sound environmental management on our own plantations, supporting the RSPO process and partnering with international NGOs, such as Fauna & Flora International, Conservation International and WWF, and local communities to preserve biodiversity and protect populations and habitats of orangutans, the world’s largest butterfly as well as freshwater systems. More…
Palm and biofuels
High crude oil prices and government subsidies and policies have driven the increased global demand for using palm oil to create biofuels. We believe biofuels can play a role in meeting global energy needs but should be balanced with the critical needs of providing food for a growing global population. More…