‘Palm Oil Certification Programme ‘ll Impoverish Host Communities in Edo’

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has described as deceptive the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification, adding that it is not transparent enough to be trusted because it impoverished host communities.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multi-stakeholder governance.

However, during a Civil Society and Community Engagement on RSPO certification, ERA/FoEN, said RSPO had lost it its relevance hence it promotes communities rights violations; forest destruction; land grabbing by oil palm companies and impoverishing the host communities.

The engagement on RSPO certification event held in Benin-city, capital of Edo State, at the weekend, was tagged: ‘Strengthening CSOs Capacity to Challenge Voluntary Certification Scheme that Destroys Forests, Degrade Environment and Fuel Community Rights Violations’.

Enlightening members of communities and other CSO members present at the programme, ERA/FoEN Programme Manager, Forest and Biodiversity, Mrs. Rita Uwaka, said oil palm companies are using the certification to undermine the rights of host communities, pollute the environment through the use of chemicals without meeting international standards guidelines.

She warned: “RSPO has grave social environmental impacts. This certification is like licencing forest destruction; it promotes communities rights violations, it promotes pollution of our environment, because these companies continue to use deadly chemicals, and they don’t follow international standards for chemical applications.

“Oil palm companies are taking advantage of RSPO to grab more land and cut more forest down, which also has negative impacts on the environment.

“Certification is a bad idea, not a solution, because it does not prevent harms. Because these companies are certified, a lot of environmental harms are being done to our communities.

“The certification is deceptive though looks attractive, but it does not address the concern we have been putting forward.”

According to Uwaka, RSPO is not neural nor independent as the companies they (RSPO) ought to regulate are the ones catering for all their wellbeing in terms of hosting them and moving them from one location to another, asking that: “how can such regulatory body be neural and transparent?”

In his speech, the Executive Director, ERA/FoEN, Mr. China Williams, said the environmental rights group was poised in fighting against any kind of human rights violations by oil palm companies or any other company.

He, however, warned host communities not to involve in anything that is against the law, saying: “He that must come to equity must come with clean hands.”

The host communities that were invited for the enlightenment programme were Odiguetue, Obaretin, Aifesoba and Uroho communities.