Background and History of Establishment

On Thursday, April 11, 2019, 18 companies/organizations, including retailers, consumer goods manufacturers, and NGOs, established the Sustainable Palm Oil Network (JASPON) to accelerate the procurement and consumption of sustainable palm oil in the Japanese market, with the aim of addressing various issues, including environmental aspects of palm oil production. The network was established to accelerate the procurement and consumption of sustainable palm oil in the Japanese market.

Issues of countries of production

About 85% of the world’s total production of palm oil, the most used vegetable oil in the world, is concentrated in two countries, Indonesia and Malaysia. In these countries, oil palm plantations have been developed rapidly and on a large scale since the 1980s in order to produce palm oil. As a result, not only are there environmental problems such as the destruction of tropical forests and the large amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with peatland development, but there are also human rights issues such as forced labor and child labor on the plantations.

Responsibility of consuming countries

As a palm oil consuming country, Japan has a significant role to play in helping to resolve these issues, and we believe it is important for our members to collaborate across industry boundaries and promote initiatives in their own right. JaSPON members hope that many stakeholders will join the platform and work together to promote sustainable palm oil procurement and consumption.

Organization Chart

As of November 2021, 53 companies are participating in the JaSPON group, which has been created for the purpose of the JaSPON.

The members will share information, exchange opinions and other activities with each other, and promote the RSPO certification for the purpose of the whole industry in the field of the access to and consumption of the RSPO certified pump oil.

Outline