Recognition of Henkel’s commitment to the sustainable cultivation of palm oil

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has ranked Henkel in the top category of its global Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011, awarding the company the maximum score of nine points out of nine. To compile the international ranking, the WWF assesses over 130 firms, including 64 from Germany, in the consumer goods industry and the retail sector with regard to their contribution to the sustainable cultivation of palm oil. The WWF published the Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011 today during the annual conference of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Malaysia.

“A top ranking in the Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011 once again confirms the leading role that Henkel plays in the area of sustainability,” reported Kasper Rorsted, Chairman of the Management Board at Henkel. “We are committed to sustainability and corporate social responsibility across the entire value chain. This includes the sustainable use of raw materials and the conservation of natural resources.” From 2015 onwards, the entire volume of palm oil and palm kernel oil that is used in Henkel products as the basis for renewable raw materials will be fully covered by RSPO certificates documenting the sustainability of the palm oil sources.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
The RSPO was originally set up in the wake of an initiative by the WWF and other interested representatives from the business sector. Henkel has been working with the organization since 2003 and has been an official member since 2008. The RSPO’s goals are to promote the sustainable production of palm oil and palm kernel oil and to prevent the destruction of the rainforests. To this end the RSPO has established a certification and marketing model for palm oil from sustainably cultivated plantations. To advance and establish the Book & Claim system for palm kernel oil, Henkel became the world’s first company to make use of the extended palm oil certification system which was expanded to include palm kernel oil. The RSPO is currently the only institution that defines criteria for the sustainable cultivation of palm oil and palm kernel oil.

A strong partner for the sustainable production of palm oil
To promote the concept of sustainable palm oil production yet more effectively, Henkel engages in dialogue with other partners above and beyond the RSPO. Henkel joined the Coalition on Sustainable Palm Oil (POC) in October 2009. Its members include the representatives of globally operating companies in the consumer goods and food industries as well as of non-governmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Oxfam, WWF and others. Their common goal is to support a moratorium on the destructive clearing of rainforests, while the participating companies commit to shift their sourcing of palm oil entirely to sustainably managed sources by an agreed date.

Henkel has furthermore initiated the “Forum for Sustainable Palm Oil” together with industry partners, the WWF and the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ). Its goal is to promote the use of sustainably produced palm oil and palm kernel oil. The standards defined by the RSPO serve as the basis for this work, and are to be developed and supplemented by the forum.

Henkel provides extensive information on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, and its contribution to the sustainable cultivation of palm oil, on its website at www.henkel.com/sustainability.