SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL MANIFESTO
Initiators :
Asian Agri
IOI Corporation Berhad
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad
Musim Mas Group
Sime Darby Plantation
Cargill
Unilever
Apical Group
Wilmar International
Greenpeace
STEERING COMMITTEE
Source: http://www.carbonstockstudy.com/Structure/The-Steering-Committee
Note- All Steering Committee Members agreed to:
 Stop all new plantings on potential HCS areas
 Implement its principal recommendations
HIGH CARBON STOCK STUDY
DRAFT SYNTHESIS REPORT
Authors:
John Raison
The Mullion Group, Canberra
Philippa Atkinson
Independent author, consultant and researcher in Liberia
Jerome Chave
Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Toulouse
Ruth DeFries
Columbia University, New York
Goh Kah Joo
Applied Agricultural Resources Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
Hans Joosten
University of Greifswald, Greifswald
Peter Navratil
Remote Sensing Solutions, GmbH, Munich
Released for Public Comment
1st June to 31st July 2015
Florian Siegert
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich
BACKGROUND
Agus, et. al., 2013: - Indonesia / Malaysia / Papua New Guinea
Land conversion
Oil Plam
20% of GHGs
Gunarso, et. al., 2013:
Natural Forest
Oil Palm
Development
Logging,
Forest Fires,
and Others
- Must be sustainable
- Eradicate poverty
Degraded
Forest
Oil Palm
Plantations
Meet United Nations
(2015) sustainable
Development Goal
PAST / PRESENT APPROACHES
Best Management
Practices (BMPs)
Improved
Sustainability
of Oil Palm
Roundtable for Sustainable
Oil Palm (RSPO)
Free Prior and informed
consent (FPIC)
New Players:
 Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO)
 Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)
 Other Certification Schemes
6
PAST / PRESENT APPROACHES
HCS APPROACH – Proposed by GAR/TFT/GP (2012, 2013)
- Golden Agri Resources - PT SMART
- The Forest Trust
- Green Peace
Note:
-
This study aims to conserve as much forests as possible
Uses HCS Threshold of 40tC/ha
All vegetation that is NOT scrub or grassland should be conserved
Used in fragmented forests
RECENT DEVELOPMENT ISSUES
Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil: (RSPO)
o Global not for profit
o Multi-stakeholders initiative
o Transform the oil palm markets by making sustainable
palm oil the norm
o Over 2000 members
RSPO Criterion 5
Estates must regularly report mitigation measures
RSPO Criterion 7
New planting must meet criteria
o Deforestation and GHG Emissions
o No Peat Development
o Focus more on conservation
OTHER NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil
(ISPO)
Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil
(MSPO)
Can they be = RSPO or RSPO+
DEFINITIONS
FPIC
o Free, prior and informed consent
o A community has the right to give OR
withhold its consent to a proposed project
HCV
o High Conservation Value:
- Biological, Ecological, Social & Cultural
RSPO
o Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil:
- Certified Palm Oil
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
o Developments that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the need of
future generations
FOREST DEFINITIONS
Forest definitions differs between agencies:
UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
o Forest can have very low carbon stock
o Young natural stands and all plantations which have yet to reach a
crown density of 10-30% OR tree height of 2-5 meters
o Areas normally forming part of the forests which are temporarily
unstocked due to human intervention or natural causes
o Conversion of old growth forest to oil palm is not deforestation.
i.e., OK to plant oil palm
FAO – Food and Agriculture Organisation
Excludes stands of trees established primarily for agricultural
production, and oil palm is ‘non-forest plantations’, but rubber wood
plantations are OK, but rubber cannot be converted to oil palm
CARBON STOCK = BIOMASS
Above Ground
Vegetation (AGB)
Below Ground
Vegetation (BGB)
(Soil Peat)
Total Carbon Stock
HCS + looks at Carbon Stock
 Not Emissions
 But Potential Emission
SOILS: Sandy Soils
Deep Peat
= <100 tC/ha
= Many Thousands tC/ha
HCS+ METHODOLOGY
o
o
o
o
Differs from the GAR / TFT / GP - HCS Approach
Does not apply strict definitions of “Forest”
Forests can have different carbon stocks
Uses Carbon Stock to define plantable areas
Approximate range of carbon stocks held in biomass (AGB) and
soil carbon (BGB) in tropical forests.
HCS+ METHODOLOGY (continued)
Provides an approach how to use socio-economic factors when
balancing GHG Emissions with local development impacts
Example of how changing the threshold for agreed levels of C emissions from biomass and
soils can markedly affect the area of land potentially available for development.
HCS+ METHODOLOGY (continued)
Contrasting relationships between the area of forest land converted,
and total GHG emissions.
HCS+ METHODOLOGY (continued)
o Uses information on potential GHG Emissions
o Socio-economic impacts of applying different emission levels
o Work with RSPO, who are currently further developing these approaches
to GHG Emissions in oil palm sector
o Biodiversity NOT fully used, except in forests with high carbon stocks
HCS+ METHODOLOGY (continued)
o HCS+ only concerned with GHG Emissions within CONCESSION
o Does not consider
N2O emissions from fertilizers
CH4 emissions from processing
CO2 emissions from transport
Occurs in all plantations
Do not help
differentiate in choice
of land to be
developed
o Emissions only considered first 25 years cycle
o Emissions can be expressed per unit of land area
o OR per ton of oil produced
If per ton of oil used – productivity of the land is accounted for.
Highly productive land may have greater emissions/ha,
But lower lower emissions/t oil produced
DECISION PROCESS
SETTING THRESHOLD FOR CARBON EMISSION
FRAMEWORK FOR BALANCING THE CLIMATIC
AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC EFFECTS
o High Emissions
e.g., Peatlands – Regardless of depth
o High biomass forests
o Off-setting not allowed
C stock >230-420tC/ha
o
o
o
o
Important Socio-benefits
Small adverse increase in impact
Can be off-set by additional storage of Carbon in forests outside
Purchase of Carbon Credits
o Degraded land with low Carbon Stock
e.g., Grassland / Scrub land
Notes:
Forests after selective logging contain ⅔ of original Carbon ABG >100tC/ha
ABG >100tC/ha = Total Biomass >150tC/ha (includes roots, stumps, fallen logs)
Old growth forest = 230-420tC/ha
SOCIO-ECONOMICS ASPECTS
COMPANIES:
o Abide by FPIC process
o Ensure equitable benefit/sharing
- Access to local communities/amenities
- Fair wages/compensation
- Pursue favorable models
o Develop additional capacity within company
All above recommendations apply to
all new developments
KEY STEPS IN IMPLIMENTING
HCS+ METHODOLOGY
Map Vegetation/Land use
High resolution Remote-Sensing – e.g., Rapid-eye
Map/Estimate Above Ground Biomass (ABG)
Calibrated-LIDAR (> 0.25ha accuracy)
Map soil types
Estimate below group Carbon Stock - Terrain/Vegetation/Ground survey/Locate peat/HCS areas
Map/Estimate Potential GHG Emission (Soil + Biomass) for making land use decisions
Map areas potentially available for conservation under different GHG Thresholds
75 tC AGB, 75 tC BGB, 100 tC ABG
Produce refined map indicating land available for development
Map of Oil Palm Concession
-
-
Land use cover/Land use
Hydrological catchments
- Adjacent conservation areas
Forest/Agriculture/Roads/Settlements/Infrastructures
Map of potential land available for development
or retention as forest
CRITICAL INPUTS AND PROCESS
REQUIRED FOR LAND USE DECISION
Note: 1) LIDAR provides accurate estimates of spatial distribution of AGB at a
concession sizes of 5,000 – 50,000 ha (Cost: USD 5 – 15/ha)
2) Data Elevation Model (DEM) for slope analysis can be derived form LIDAR
- Drainage pattern
- Erosion risk and etc.
OVERVIEW AND COST OF
REMOTE SENSING PRODUCTS
Overview
Cost
IMPLICATIONS FOR MALAYSIA
1) No new areas of peat can be developed.
Question: Why are temperate peats being used/mined ?
2) All proposed development MUST follow the HCS+ plan.
Plan looks at Carbon Stocks to determine if an area can be
developed to oil palm.
3) Exercise will be costly as LIDAR Technology/Soil mapping must be done.
Question: Do we have to use foreign experts to do this? Can
Government/Remote Sensing Institute/MPOB provide
this data free/discounted rate to Malaysian Estates ?
Question: Does this exercise infringe on National Security ?
Carbon Stock does not reflect Emissions.
4) Malaysia already agreed to keep the 50% Forests we have.
Holland has 10% of forest
Why not these countries
U.K. has 20% of forest
reforest to 50% also ?
5) Malaysia/Indonesia should ban buying of Carbon Credits
by developed nations.
MORE QUESTIONS
IPCC Global Threshold of 40tC/ha unfair to Tropical Countries
Stephens, et. al., (1984)
Estimate that a subsidence rate of 3cm/year in the Everglades
should be equal to 8 cm/year in Tropics due to different
temperature. i.e., Subsidence rate hence GHG Measurements.
(Low) Boreal/Temperate
Tropics (High) 2.7 times higher
1) Tropical Countries (hot throughout the year)
- Give out more CO2/ha/yr compared to temperate countries
- Replace the Carbon Stock faster than temperate countries
Paramananthan. S., 2005
2) 75 tC/ha Carbon Stock
How much GHG Emission.
MORE QUESTIONS
Vegetable Oil Demand
3) Soybean/Rapeseed/Sunflowers produce 0.6 – 1t oil/ha/yr
Oil Palm 4 – 6t oil/ha/yr
What happens when in 2050 World population reaches 9.0 Billion,
We need additional 29 Million ton /year
(12kg Vegetable oil per head)
To produce this we require:
Oil Palm:
Current yield 8 million ha of new planting
Best Yields
5.8 million ha
Rapeseed:
Soybean:
50 million ha
75 million ha
CASE FOR SARAWAK
Chief Minister
o No new approvals for logging and plantations
o Land already alienated mostly NCR land
o No more new land alienation in peat areas
o Existing alienated land can be planted
o Peninsula/Sabah and Sarawak – Malaysia will
NOT having new alienation on peat
o HCS Study no longer applicable in Malaysia
CONCLUSIONS
o Default values for tropics should be 2.7 times that for
temperate areas
o Cut-off of 75 tC/ha is too low for tropics
o Will be expensive for companies to do study, unless
Government helps
o Land is STATE matter, and Federal Government has
little say – can only recommend
o Malaysia has committed to retain our 50% forests
o Temperate/Developed countries should do the same
(retain 50% of forest)
o New peat classification MSPO’s implication
o What do we do in 2050
Oil Palm
Rapeseed
Soybean
THANK YOU