Efeca is providing technical assistance to the UK government and the Secretariat to the Amsterdam Declaration, in particular supporting the development of a monitoring and reporting framework for progress.
What is the Amsterdam Declaration?
The Palm Oil Amsterdam Declaration, signed by six countries, is a statement showing support for a fully sustainable palm oil supply chain by 2020. It acknowledges that Europe could be an important ‘game changer’, as it has the world’s largest economy and the second largest global import market for palm oil. If all public and private stakeholders work together in a coherent way, the Declaration states that this goal could be achieved.
Signed in December 2015, the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals which call for, among other things, sustainable production and consumption, ending poverty, combating climate change, and halting land degradation and deforestation, are also reiterated by the Signatories of the Amsterdam Declaration.
What does the Declaration state?
Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom have all declared that they will, among other things, “encourage all stakeholders to support the improvement and further development of sustainability standards towards sustainable palm oil production.” European private sector organisations engaged in the palm oil supply chain have also joined forces in a commitment and drive towards 100% sustainable sourcing and trade and increased traceability of this commodity by no later than 2020.
The Declaration also states that national governments, members of the European Sustainable Palm Oil Advocacy Group, the national commitments on sustainable palm oil, key private sector actors and civil society would be invited to an annual meeting. The aim of the dialogue would be to talk about progress, bottlenecks and opportunities in the public-private sphere towards achievement of the commitment.
Other aims include encouraging:
(i) the take up of OCED Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains amongst European companies;
(ii) the alignment and engagement of the commitment with European countries and companies;
(iii) engagement through developing relations and dialogues on trade relations at state level with major producing countries.
For more information on our work supporting the Secretariat and the UK government in their progress towards achieving a 100% sustainable palm oil supply chain, please contact us.