Zhang Yang

nicolezyyy@163.com

LIPSTICK containing sustainable palm oil was made by hand by consumers during an event held by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in a Rainbow supermarket in Longgang District yesterday.

The event was part of a campaign called “Say Yes to Sustainable Palm Oil” organized by RSPO, a nonprofit organization aimed at promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products across the globe.

Closely related to everyone’s daily life, palm oil is widely used in many supermarket products, such as chocolate, ice cream, cereal, potato chips, instant noodles, artificial butter as well as lipstick, soap, skincare products and other daily necessities. According to RSPO, more than 50 percent of the products on supermarket shelves contain palm oil nowadays.

Jiang Yun, RSPO’s China representative, said the organization has set up a certification system, which ensures that products certified by RSPO contain palm oil that has been planted and processed in a sustainable way. The certified products with the RSPO trademark on the packaging can be easily distinguished from uncertified ones by consumers.

According to Jiang, over 6 million tons of palm oil are consumed in China annually, but only 0.5 percent of the oil is certified by RSPO. The organization hopes that the proportion will be raised to 10 percent by 2020 following its efforts to promote the idea of sustainable palm oil in the country.

Jiang said 75 companies in China have become members of RSPO, while most of them are palm oil suppliers and processors.

RSPO is partnering with many supermarkets and organizations in China to call for more people to get involved and encourage the use of sustainable palm oil.

Stefano Savi, RSPO’s global outreach and engagement director, said China is the second-largest importer and consumes the third-largest amount of palm oil globally.

“RSPO pays great attention to the development of sustainable palm oil in China, not only because China consumes a large amount of palm oil, but also because China has become a foregoer in promoting sustainable development,” he said.