Written by Monique van Wijnbergen, Natural Habitat’s Sustainability & Corporate Communications Director and spokesperson for Palm Done Right.
As palm oil supply chains are complex with many actors involved, traceability is important to assess risks. It becomes even more important with the European Council’s agreed mandatory due diligence rules to tackle deforestation “for all operators and traders who place, make available or export the following products from the EU market: palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa and soy”.
Tracing back ingredients to its source is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The goal is to drive impact on the ground: preventing deforestation and habitat loss, and ensuring rights are respected. A lot of efforts have been put into supply chain mapping. It remains challenging though, to get a full overview of the networks that make up a supply hub.
