Kuala Lumpur, 4 October 2019 — Conservation International and Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDP) today announced a partnership to help map a sustainable future for one of the world’s most important and debated commodities: palm oil.

The collaboration between the global nonprofit organization and the Malaysia-based company — the world’s largest producer of certified sustainable palm oil — aims to build on SDP’s reputation as a leader in sustainability in an effort to transform the palm oil sector.

The rapid expansion of various crops cultivation including oil palm in recent decades has come at a steep cost to the environment and human rights. While important strides have been made by responsible producers in the palm oil sector to improve these circumstances, challenges such as deforestation and social conflict continue. In an effort to address those challenges, Conservation International will work with SDP to further build sustainability into the core of its operations and supply chain and to identify opportunities to deepen the impact of its interventions across the sector.

The partnership with Conservation International comes on the heels of SDP’s recently launched traceability initiative, Crosscheck, the first of its kind for the industry. An open access, online tool, Crosscheck is a major step forward in the Company’s efforts to achieve a supply chain that is free of deforestation and violations of other sustainable practices.

“Conservation International has been working to advance sustainability in the palm oil sector for more than 15 years, and this collaboration is a logical step in those ongoing efforts. We’ve seen that Sime Darby Plantation is clearly committed to raising the bar on sustainability and transparency, and we’re hopeful about what this partnership can achieve both for Sime Darby Plantation and the sector as a whole,” said John Buchanan, Vice President of Sustainable Production at the organization’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business.

“Sime Darby Plantation is committed towards the responsible and sustainable production of palm oil, but we cannot do this alone. We believe the collaboration with Conservation International will help us determine further potential improvements that can be made to our operations, supply chain and various initiatives. This will help to ensure that we continue to strengthen our sustainability credentials and protect both the environment and the people within our sphere,” said SDP’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Dr. Simon Lord.

The first phase of the collaboration between the parties will be an independent review by Conservation International of SDP’s operations and palm oil supply chain. Based on the findings of the assessment, Conservation International and SDP will identify opportunities to strengthen the company’s sustainability practices and drive positive change for the people and landscapes in which SDP operates. The collaboration will help create a pathway for other players to follow, in hopes of leading to a sustainable transformation of not just the palm oil industry but also the entire agricultural sector.