80% of the world’s palm oil is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia. Moreover, the wider region is a major exporter of sugarcane, rubber and timber. Our work in Southeast Asia covers a wide range of commodities, including palm oil, coconut, cocoa, rubber, sugar and timber.
We have offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Our team has a wide range of expertise in responsible sourcing and production and in-depth familiarity with local contexts. The main countries we work in are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and Japan.
Supporting companies
We facilitate engagement between buyers and their suppliers based in the region, focusing on key commodities: palm oil, rubber and sugar. We help the downstream companies engage their upstream suppliers to spread their responsible sourcing commitments along the supply chain, taking into consideration the local context.
We also provide direct and indirect support to companies through strategic reviews. These include recommending current industry best practices and global market requirements, NDPE (No Deforestation, Peat or Exploitation) commitments, conducting risk assessments and prioritisation, developing sustainability policies, and implementing traceability and supply chain mapping activities.
Being a trusted and preferred partner, we coordinate collaboration among downstream companies to optimise impacts on the ground, collaborate with partners and the private sector to expand opportunities for smallholders, reduce the negative impacts of commodity production, and improve smallholder livelihoods.
Effective collaboration
We support collaboration across sectors and landscapes. We helped RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) to develop international guidelines and standards for the palm oil industry, as well as interpreting the guidelines into local contexts.
We facilitated the development of the Malaysian National Interpretation for the Identification of High Conservation Values (HCV). And, at a landscape level, worked with our partners, Daemeter Consulting, to set up the Siak-Pelalawan Landscape Program in Riau Province, Indonesia, where we work with the private sector, government agencies and local NGOs in developing an NDPE-compliant supply base within the landscape.
We also collaborate closely with Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) Southeast Asia on their jurisdictional dialogues.
Developing knowledge and capacity
Building local capacity is a core part of our approach to achieving positive impacts. Our Southeast Asia team delivers HCV-HCS and RSPO training for both producers and assessors.
As well as public training courses, we conduct bespoke courses based on specific requests. Through the Siak-Pelalawan Landscape Programme, we delivered technical training on environmental management and social issues to the village facilitators engaged in peat restoration activities.
We also paved the way for the long-term involvement of local practitioners in restoration activities in Riau Province, Indonesia.
