Sabah Palm Oil Jurisdictional Approach sets impact indicators
Progressing towardssustainabledevelopment of palm oil in Sabah, The Sabah Jurisdictional Approach for Sustainable Palm Oil (JASPO) Initiative is developing systems to monitor the progress and impacts of jurisdictional approach to the state of Sabah.
This system is to objectively measure people, planet and prosperity of Sabah in relation to palm oil.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group – comprised of experts from industry, civil societies, the state government and the federal government – began collaboratively developing indicators for these measures in February 2023.
On January 18, 2024, the indicators were finalised at the MEWG Indicator Workshop at The Palace Hotel, Kota Kinabalu.
This workshop was attended by members from Sawit Kinabalu, WWF-Malaysia, Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (MPIC), Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC), Sabah Forestry Department, and the Sabah JASPO Secretariat.
These indicators are crucial in steering JASPO to achieve jurisdictional certification for Sabah using Roundtable in Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – the most recognised sustainability certification in the world.
Moreover, it supports the strongly-enforced nation-wide regulation for all growers to be Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certified.
“With a commitment to advancing transparency, accountability, and effectiveness in governance, the working group has dedicated months of rigorous collaboration to recommend a comprehensive system that will serve as a benchmark for measuring Sabah’s performance as sustainable palm oil producers in this region,” said Nazlan Mohamad, Sustainability General Manager of Sawit Kinabalu and co-chair of the MEWG.
“The vision is to then develop a stream-lined process of reporting and evaluating the results of the assessments, as part of a reporting requirements for JA certification audits, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) reporting by the State.”
“This feat requires broad support from more stakeholders to set this [system] up.
We welcome collaboration as we begin assessing our baseline status this year to show where we are currently.
“After, we can then monitor progress of the jurisdictional approach in Sabah’s landscape,” stated Elyrice Alim, Manager of Forest Areas of WWF-Malaysia and co-chair of the MEWG.