Southeast Asia’s attractiveness to businesses also makes it vulnerable to exploitation of its natural resources. The prospectors seeking to abuse the environment in Southeast Asia are not who Invest SEA wants to bring in. Instead, we’re looking for forward-thinking, environmentally-mindful investors to see the vast potential of Southeast Asia’s resources as a reason to take care of the region that gives its stakeholders so much.

One major export where we can see an example of this exploitation is palm oil. The most highly consumed vegetable oil on the planet, palm oil can be found in a range of different products, from soap to ice cream. 90% of the world’s palm oil comes from Southeast Asia; Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are the top three palm oil producers on earth.

Current methods of harvesting palm oil in Southeast Asia are harming the environment. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the side effects of negligent palm oil harvesting are wide-ranging and dire:

Burning and Air Pollution:

In order to clear land to create palm oil plantations, mass-burning of forests take place. Along with destroying the vegetation, these burnings release carbon dioxide causing air pollution and health problems for people as the smoke sweeps into populated areas.

Loss of Critical Habitats for Endangered Species:

As the most diverse tropical environment on earth, Southeast Asia is home to several endangered species. For example, forty-three percent of Tesso Nilo National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, a designated habitat for the endangered Sumatran tiger, has now been destroyed and taken over by illegal palm oil plantations. Loss of habitat is bringing forth a rise human-wildlife conflicts as large animals are run out of their homes.

Soil and Water Pollution:

Wreaking havoc on biodiversity and people, a single palm oil mill can generate 2.5 metric tons of waste for every metric ton of palm oil it produces.

Solutions:

Fortunately, environmental organizations have already outlined preliminary steps that businesses and palm-oil consumers can take to minimize their impact on the environment.

Traceability:

A key first step, investors in palm-oil production can consult the PalmTrace tool on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) website to trace products back to a mill with transparency.

Certification and Verification:

By monitoring progress and having results certified via independent third parties, stakeholders can be assured they’re operating according to stated sustainability standards and commitments. The POIG (Palm Oil Innovation Group) developed Verification Indicators, which comply with the organization’s charter outlining standards for protecting forests and biodiversity.

Transparency:

Organizations and companies who are members of the RSPO are required to make yearly reports via their Annual Communication of Progress (ACOP). Currently, many production and processing companies are also creating their own methods of transparent reporting of environmental impacts to consumers and stakeholders.