FSC and RSPO
WRM has been exposing the false promises of certification schemes for over two decades. This includes the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), as well as carbon offset certification schemes like Verra (with the label, VCS—Voluntary Carbon Standard). These schemes help greenwash corporate destruction, and they facilitate the ongoing expansion of corporate profit. Meanwhile consumers are deceived, forests are destroyed and local communities’ rights are violated.
Communities resisting the impunity and impacts of oil palm growers in Ecuador: Cases from Esmeraldas
The Palmas del Ixcán company has used multiple tactics to grab land, as well as a deceptive RSPO certification process and the use of “independent producers.” Despite criminalization of communities, their resistance grows ever stronger.
Despite the massive clearing of mangroves to make way for shrimp farms, and the oppression of fishing and gathering communities, this industry has access to certifications that not only facilitate its entry into foreign markets; they also conceal a history of violence against the peoples of the mangroves.
The Korindo Group cleared Kinggo’s Indigenous People’s forests for its industrial oil palm plantations. Petrus Kinggo and other community leaders were persuaded to give up customary forest land with misleading and false promises. Now they are fighting against the FSC-certified Korindo. (Available in Indonesian).
