Project objective
The objective for this project was to analyse the consumption and trade of timber, pulp, paper and palm oil commodities. In addition to this, the project also wanted to look closer at the trends in the uptake of forest and palm oil certification, to investigate the perceived benefits and costs of businesses that have pursued certification. Together all this information will be used to encourage other companies considering becoming certified.
The challenge
Due to the continuing problems of deforestation and forest degradation in Malaysia, there is a need to manage forests and palm oil plantations in a sustainable manner. Getting certified costs money, and the incentive to become certified may often be blocked by the company’s expectations of it being an additional cost without benefits. It is worth doing from an environmentally point of view, but is it worth is it worth doing from a purely business point of view?
Project approach and scope
To achieve the objective, the approach of the project was to engage with companies that were pursuing sustainable certification and collect information to produce a business case that focused on and presented the monetary benefits of sustainable certification.
In depth interviews were conducted with:
- 17 Malaysian companies from the timber and pulp and paper sectors. Thirteen of them were certified via FSC and/or PEFC and four were not certified.
- 10 Malaysian companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and trade RSPO-certified products.
The elements studied were:
- Tracked consumption and demand of FSC and RSPO certified products over the last 5 years (globally and domestically), where possible, by industry
- Projected consumption and demand of certified sustainable products over the next 5 years (globally and domestically), where possible, by industry
- Certified and non-certified Palm Oil, Timber and Pulp & Paper based commodity price pattern over the past 5 years
- Certified and non-certified Palm Oil, Timber and Pulp & Paper based commodity price pattern projected certified sustainable products over the next 5 years
- Number of FSC and RSPO membership and certified businesses in the last 5 years and projected next 5 years, globally and domestically
- Identification of possible new businesses that are emerging from the basic certified commodities
- Policies and regulations enabling or disrupting the growth of demand for certified products
- The value of switching to sustainable products across varying industries by businesses
Project results
Our findings revealed a wide variety of business benefits. Click on the links below to download a short summary of each report.
- 17 Malaysian companies from the timber and pulp and paper sectors. Thirteen of them were certified via FSC and/or PEFC and four were not certified.
- 10 Malaysian companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and trade RSPO-certified products.
