Author: Publisher: Responsible Research
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 6
Book Description
Palm Oil in Asia - Issues for Responsible Investors (Executive Summary)
Foresty in Asia - Issues for Responsible Investors
Author: Powering Asia - Issues for Responsible Investors (Executive Summary)
Author: Towards responsible and inclusive financing of the palm oil sector
Author: Kusumaningtyas, R.Publisher: CIFOR
ISBN: 6023870589
Category : Palm oil industry
Languages : en
Pages : 54
Book Description
The global palm oil sector faces ongoing threats to sustainability caused by deforestation, peatland development, labor rights violations and land right conflicts. Additionally, integrating smallholders into sustainable palm oil supply chains continues to be a challenge for the industry. Financial service providers (FSPs) could play a role in stimulating sustainability commitments from the palm oil companies they finance. Their potential influence stems from their capacity to set environmental, social and governance (ESG) conditions for financial services. This research shows that European and US FSPs are further along than their counterparts in Asia in adopting policies that include ESG risk assessments as part of the process for providing financial services. However, attention to smallholder inclusion is insufficient in the policies of all FSPs included in this report. Differences between European and US versus Asian FSPs in adopting ESG standards, as well as the unique markets they finance, present a risk that two parallel but separate financial systems could emerge. Efforts by both government and nongovernmental organizations should emphasize the prevention of a two-tiered marketplace with different quality requirements for palm oil. All actors in this sector still require a significant shift in thinking on the benefits of including ESG standards in cultivation and production processes. In palm oil producing countries, the lack of specific banking regulations emphasizing sustainability concerns regarding the sector forms a further hindrance to positive developments.
Toward responsible and inclusive financing of the palm oil sector
Author: Kusumaningtyas, R.Publisher: CIFOR
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 8
Book Description
Key messages Many stakeholders, including governments, production and processing companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are working towards a more sustainable palm oil sector. Although smallholders account for an important share of oil palm cultivation, the social and environmental challenges of smallholder practices receive relatively little attention.Financial Service Providers (FSPs), such as banks and pension funds, could play a more significant role developing a more sustainable and inclusive palm oil sector by tying Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) conditions to the financial services they provide to palm oil companies that source products from smallholders.The majority of funds financing the major palm oil companies originate from FSPs based in Asian countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Currently, these FSPs do not have adequate ESG policies.European and American FSP policies are more advanced in addressing such issues as deforestation and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification. Nevertheless, they still pay very little attention to the inclusion of smallholders in sustainable supply chains.Due to the differences between ESG policies followed by European and American FSPs in comparison to Asian FSPs, palm oil companies still have ample alternatives to access financing with few conditions. As a result, the potentially significant contribution of FSPs to foster a more sustainable palm oil sector remains underutilized.Adoption of more adequate ESG policies by Asian FSPs could occur in the first place through an increased understanding by these FSPs of the financial risks involved in continuing business as usual. Second, peer pressure from European and American FSPs and sustainability initiatives would help. Third, financial regulators in the palm oil production countries increasingly look for instruments to stimulate the financial sector to contribute more to the sustainable development of their economies.
Hong Kong Real Estate - Issues for Responsible Investors
Author: Working with Smallholders
Author: World BankPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9781464819629
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"Smallholder farmers are the stewards of more than 80 percent of the world's farms. These small family businesses produce about one-third of the world's food. In Africa and Asia, smallholders dominate the production of food crops, as well as export commodities such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton. However, smallholders and farm workers remain among the poorest segments of the population, and they are on the frontline of climate change. Smallholder farmers face constraints in accessing inputs, finance, knowledge, technology, labor, and markets. Raising farm-level productivity in a sustainable way is a key development priority. Agribusinesses are increasingly working with smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries to secure agricultural commodities. More productive smallholders boost rural incomes and economic growth, as well as reduce poverty. Smallholders also represent a growing underserved market for farm inputs, information, and financial services. Working with Smallholders: A Handbook for Firms Building Sustainable Supply Chains (third edition) shows agribusinesses how to engage more effectively with smallholders and to develop sustainable, resilient, and productive supply chains. The book compiles practical solutions and cutting-edge ideas to overcome the challenges facing smallholders. This third edition is substantially revised from the second edition and incorporates new material on the potential for digital technologies and sustainable farming. This handbook is written principally to outline opportunities for the private sector. The content may also be useful to the staffs of governmental or nongovernmental development programs working with smallholders, as well as to academic and research institutions."--
Promised Land
Author: Marcus ColchesterPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agriculture and state
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
The Oil Palm Complex
Author: Rob CrambPublisher: NUS Press
ISBN: 9814722065
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490
Book Description
The oil palm industry has transformed rural livelihoods and landscapes across wide swathes of Indonesia and Malaysia, generating wealth along with economic, social, and environmental controversy. Who benefits and who loses from oil palm development? Can oil palm development provide a basis for inclusive and sustainable rural development? Based on detailed studies of specific communities and plantations and an analysis of the regional political economy of oil palm, this book unpicks the dominant policy narratives, business strategies, models of land acquisition, and labour-processes. It presents the oil palm industry in Malaysia and Indonesia as a complex system in which land, labour and capital are closely interconnected. Understanding this complex is a prerequisite to developing better strategies to harness the oil palm boom for a more equitable and sustainable pattern of rural development.
Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire
Author: Rebecca HendersonPublisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1541730135
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
A renowned Harvard professor debunks prevailing orthodoxy with a new intellectual foundation and a practical pathway forward for a system that has lost its moral and ethical foundation. Free market capitalism is one of humanity's greatest inventions and the greatest source of prosperity the world has ever seen. But this success has been costly. Capitalism is on the verge of destroying the planet and destabilizing society as wealth rushes to the top. The time for action is running short. Rebecca Henderson's rigorous research in economics, psychology, and organizational behavior, as well as her many years of work with companies around the world, give us a path forward. She debunks the worldview that the only purpose of business is to make money and maximize shareholder value. She shows that we have failed to reimagine capitalism so that it is not only an engine of prosperity but also a system that is in harmony with environmental realities, the striving for social justice, and the demands of truly democratic institutions. Henderson's deep understanding of how change takes place, combined with fascinating in-depth stories of companies that have made the first steps towards reimagining capitalism, provide inspiring insight into what capitalism can be. Together with rich discussions of important role of government and how the worlds of finance, governance, and leadership must also evolve, Henderson provides the pragmatic foundation for navigating a world faced with unprecedented challenge, but also with extraordinary opportunity for those who can get it right.