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KEYNOTE PAPER
Sunny George Verghese Olam International Limited
Sunny George Verghese
Co-Founder & Group CEO Olam International Limited
Sunny George Verghese is the Co-founder& Group CEO of Olam International Limited and is responsible for strategic planning, business development and overall management of the Olam group of companies worldwide. Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the SGX-ST, Olam currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in Singapore in terms of market capitalisation. In 2016, Fortune magazine recognised Olam at #23 in its ‘Change the World’ list.
In 30 years, Sunny and his team have built this business to S$30.4 billion in Sales Revenues for FY2018. Today, Olam operates in over 60 countries, delivering various agricultural raw materials and food ingredients across 18 platforms to around 20,000 customers worldwide and employs around 74,500 people.
Sunny is currently the Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Chairman of the Board of the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), Singapore, Chairman of JOil (S) Pte Ltd and also serves on the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University. Sunny served on the Board of International Enterprise Singapore from 2002 to 2013 and was its Chairman from 2008 to 2013. Sunny also served as Chairman of CitySpring Infrastructure Management Pte Ltd from 2006 to 2010 and was on the Board of Trustees of National University of Singapore from 2009 to 2013. He also served as Commissioner of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC).
Sunny was awarded the Best Chief Executive for large cap companies in the Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) in 2011 and was named ‘Outstanding Chief Executive for 2006’ in the Singapore Business Awards (SBA) and Singapore’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008. He was also conferred The Public Service Medal by the Government of Singapore in August 2010.
Sunny holds a post graduate management degree from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and has also completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) from the Harvard Business School.
Aimee has over twenty-five years of experience as an international independent expert in the area of social and environmental standards as a strategy for sustainable development, working with standard systems, governments, civil society organizations and private companies. She has worked with RSPO on its Theory of Change, linking this to the outcome focus of the 2018 P&Cs and is part of the technical facilitation team of the Shared Responsibility Task Force.
Aimee is a skilled facilitator in bringing together diverse groups and interests for collective impact. She is known for her practical approaches for solutions under real world conditions. She has a joint international MBA and Juris Doctorate and is based on the USA east coast.
Bilge Daldeniz
Proforest
Bilge Daldeniz
Programme Director, International Programmes Proforest
Bilge Daldeniz was the technical lead for the recent RSPO P&C Review process. At Proforest, Bilge is the Programme Director for International Programmes, which encompasses the International Training and the Support to Sustainability Initiatives programmes. Her technical work centres on the facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes, the development and delivery of capacity building programmes, and direct support on sustainable production to agricultural commodity companies. Bilge speaks English, French, Spanish and German, and holds a BA in Politics and an MRes in Environment and Development from Lancaster University, UK.
Bilge has substantial knowledge of agricultural commodity, biofuel, forestry and tourism standards (e.g. RSPO, FSC, RSB, SAN, RA) and worked with the standard-setting organisation Ecotourism Australia. She spent four years carrying out research at the Centre for Tourism in Islands and Coastal Areas, University of Kent (CENTICA) and six years leading multi-country research at international research consultancy Intersperience. She has extensive experience in international development cooperation, including humanitarian relief work for CARITAS, education projects with UNESCO in Senegal, study semesters in Togo and Mexico, and fieldwork in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. Bilge has been co-facilitating the process for RSPO Shared Responsibility.
Lim Sian Choo
Bumitama
Lim Sian Choo
Group Head of Corporate Secretarial Services and Corporate Social Responsibility Bumitama
Ms. Lim Sian Choo joined Bumitama in 2011 as Group Head of Corporate Secretarial Services and Corporate Social Responsibility. She oversees Bumitama corporate secretarial and corporate social responsibility and sustainability departments. Most of her past experiences are in area of accounts and finance and operations, holding positions from Operations Manager to Group Financial Controller in the Hong Leong Group and other organization. Sian Choo obtained her Bachelor of Commerce and Administration degree in 1981 from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. She is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.
Natasha Schwarzbach
PepsiCo
Natasha Schwarzbach
Sustainable Commodities PepsiCo
Natasha Schwarzbach is a member of PepsiCo’s Global Sustainability Agriculture team and is the global lead for a variety of sustainable sourcing strategies for commodities including palm oil and cane sugar to help meet PepsiCo’s public sustainability and policy commitments. Natasha has a breadth of experience and passion in addressing sustainability issues with a focus on delivering successful programs that drive measurable environmental, economic, and social impacts through effective engagement and strong collaboration. Most recently she has been actively engaged in supporting the development of the NDPE Implementation Reporting Framework and developing a number of landscape level impact programs within Indonesia and Mexico supporting smallholders within palm and cane sugar.
Prior to PepsiCo, Natasha was instrumental in the development of Bonsucro and is now actively involved in a number of multi-stakeholder groups including representing the Global Consumer Manufacturers on the Bonsucro Member Council; the RSPO Shared Responsibility and No Deforestation Task Forces; and is on the Interlaken Steering Group.
James Whitehead
Forest Peoples Programme
James Whitehead
Director Forest Peoples Programme
James became Director of Forest Peoples Programme in early 2018. He has a strong track record of senior management with twenty years’ experience in rights-based work bridging community-led local action and international advocacy across multiple countries and regions. Prior to joining Forest Peoples Programme he was Oxfam GB's Global Innovation Lead developing cutting edge solutions to overcoming poverty. He was Oxfam's Regional Programme Manager for the Middle East before which he was International Director for Progressio, a UK-based INGO working on sustainable livelihoods, climate change, civil society and governance.
Ghislaine Nadaud
ABN Amro Bank NV
Ghislaine Nadaud
Head of Sustainability Asia Pacific ABN Amro Bank NV
Ghislaine Nadaud is the Asia-Pacific Head of Sustainability for ABN AMRO N.V. and is based in Singapore. She started her career as an attorney and practiced corporate and employment law in The Hague and Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Ghislaine joined ABN AMRO as a legal counsel in 2006 and started specialising in sustainable banking policy and risk management in 2011.
Moving to Asia in 2016 to set up ABN AMRO’s first ever regional sustainability department for its APAC Corporate & Institutional Banking business, Ghislaine is responsible for taking the lead on engaging with clients, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders on all matters related to sustainability. She is also focused on driving the Bank’s agenda on human rights due diligence, value chain management and sustainable finance.
Aside from her professional work, Ghislaine is the chair of the Sustainable Business Committee for ADB DutchCham in Singapore as well as an active member of Soroptimist International, a global volunteer movement focused on transforming the lives of women and girls.
Ghislaine has a LL.M. degree from the Universiteit Leiden with a post graduate degree in employment and labour law from Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. She has also completed the Prince of Wales’ Business & Sustainability Programme from the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership.
In her free time Ghislaine enjoys travelling, tennis, scuba diving and running.
Oi Soo Chin
RSPO
Oi Soo Chin
Impacts & Evaluation Director RSPO
Soo Chin first joined RSPO in 2013 as the Biodiversity and Conservation Manager under the Technical Division and moved to the Impacts and Evaluation Division in 2016.
In this capacity, she will be leading the team to understand the impacts of RSPO certification, communicate these impacts to stakeholders and incorporate lessons learned to continuously improve the standard.
The Impacts and Evaluation Division is responsible for the Theory of Change, Monitoring and Evaluation System, RSPO key research priorities, SENSOR, ISEAL compliance and Membership. She was previously involved in the revamp of RSPO Complaints System and launched the GeoRSPO back in 2017.
Soo Chin was trained in Forestry and prior to joining RSPO, she was a Project Coordinator for the Malaysian Environmental Consultants (MEC), where she was attached to for 10 years working on numerous projects and possesses vast experience in HCV assessment, sustainable palm oil auditing, due diligence, natural resource conservation and management in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Dan joined RSPO as the U.S. Representative of the RSPO in July 2016. Based in New York, he is now responsible for outreach and engagement activities to members and stakeholder in the U.S., as well as formalizing the RSPO’s presence in this important market. Prior to joining the RSPO, Dan was the Senior Manager, Sustainability Communications for PepsiCo, located at the Purchase, NY headquarters where he worked on the implementation and communication of their “Performance with Purpose” vision, as well as providing support for the Office of Sustainability, Procurement, Public Policy and Government Affairs teams on sustainability issues and policies. Previously, Dan was a member of the Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement Team in the Americas for Asia Pulp & Paper, supporting the launch of company’s zero deforestation policy, and the Group Director of Communications for the world’s largest publicly traded metal and electronics recycling company, Sims Metal Management.
Mark Eastham
Walmart
Mark Eastham
Senior Manager, Sustainable Products Walmart
Mark is responsible for leading and managing Walmart’s sustainable agriculture and forests programs. His work focuses on building strategies and driving sustainable sourcing for key commodities in Walmart’s packaged food business. These programs are focused on reducing environmental impacts and costs throughout the supply chain. Mark also manages efforts to form strategies for emerging environmental issues for the company, and he works to support company-wide successes in monitoring sustainable sourcing and furthering sustainable product procurement for Walmart’s global supply chain. Mark is responsible for working across multiple business units at Walmart, and with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), companies, and industry organizations. His efforts are focused on developing sound strategies and goals that are good for business, the environment, and customers.
John Buchanan
CELB, Conservation International
John Buchanan
Vice President, Sustainable Production CELB, Conservation International
John Buchanan leads the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Markets team within Conservation International's Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB). The Sustainable Food & Agriculture Markets team focuses on engaging leading companies in palm oil, soy and related agribusiness sectors to develop and implement sustainable agriculture strategies. These strategies link commodity supply chains to agricultural landscape initiatives, combining sustainable production with protection of critical natural capital. John is also responsible for CI relationships with companies in the food and agriculture value chain such as Walmart, Mars, Mondelez, and Sime Darby.
John sits on the Steering Committee of the Good Growth Partnership, a Global Environment Facility-funded initiative to reduce deforestation in global commodity supply chains. He previously served on the Board of Governors of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, as a Co-organizer of the Landscapes for People Food and Nature Initiative and 4 years on the Steering Committee of the Keystone Field to Market Initiative.
John has been with CI since 1997. Previously, he worked for six years in the food packaging industry. John has a degree in political science and French from Washington and Lee University. He is fluent in Spanish.
Dr Meryl Richards
CERES
Dr Meryl Richards
Senior Manager, Food and Forests CERES
Meryl collaborates with investors and companies to address deforestation and climate change in global supply chains. She leads research on the climate impacts of agriculture and commodity-driven deforestation and how food companies can reduce the material risks associated with those impacts. Her current work focuses on supplier incentives for avoiding deforestation and communicating deforestation-related climate risks to investors.
Meryl comes to Ceres with extensive experience in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from food supply chains. Prior to joining Ceres, she was a science officer with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, where she led research on low emissions agricultural development strategies. During that time, she also held an appointment as a Research Associate at the University of Vermont, where she remains an Affiliate of the Gund Institute for Environment.
Meryl has authored over 25 publications on the environmental impacts of agriculture and food supply chains. She holds a Ph.D. in plant and soil science from the University of Vermont and a BA and BE in engineering from Dartmouth College.
Chairman Singapore Institute of International Affairs
Simon SC Tay is a public intellectual as well as an advisor to major corporations and policy-makers. He is Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, the country’s oldest think tank. The SIIA’s work focuses on the politics, economic policies and sustainablity issues that matter to corporatoons and policy makers. The SIIA is ranked by an international survey as a leading think tank in ASEAN and Asia, and has advised the Indonesian and Myanmar governments on foreign investment.
He is concurrently a tenured Associate Professor, teaching international law at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. He has also taught at Harvard Law School, the Fletcher School and Yale University. His book, Asia Alone: the Dangerous Post Crisis Divide from America (Wiley 2010) was well reviewed in the Economist and Financial Times. His comments and interviews feature in the international and regonal media, including the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, NHK Japan and CCTV.
Prof Tay is also Senior Consultant at WongPartnership, a leading Asian law firm of some 300 lawyers and with offices in ASEAN, China and the Middle East. He has served on boards for global companies including MUFG Bank of Japan and was previously Corporate Advisor to Temasek Holdings (2006-09). He has spoken at leading business conferences including the World Economic Forum, APEC CEO Summits and SIBOS, and briefed major corporate boards and financial institutions.
From 1992 to 2008, he served in a number of public appointments for Singapore including as Chairman of the National Environment Agency (2002-08); an independent Member of Parliament (1997-2001); and to coordinate the country’s equivalent of the Peace Corps (1990-93). He was chair or co-chair for a number of public commissions such as Singapore 21, the Singapore Green Plan and the Singapore Concept Plan 2010. In 2006, Prof Tay received a National Day Award. He served Singapore as an Expert and Eminent Person in the ASEAN Regional Forum from 2002 to March 2019.
He is a prize winning author of fiction and poetry. His 2010 novel City of Small Blessings was awarded the Singapore Literature Prize. He graduated in law from the National University of Singapore (1986), where he was president of the student union for three terms. He also holds a Masters in Law from Harvard Law School (1993-94), which he attended on a Fulbright Scholarship and where he won the Laylin prize for the best thesis in international law.
He was born in 1961 and is the only son of the late Tay Seow Huah, who was a senior civil servant in the government reporting to the Prime Minister and Defence Minister, and the late Madam Cheong Keong Hin, a teacher. Prof Tay has one son.
Yulhaidir
Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Yulhaidir
Head of Seruyan District Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Mr. Yulhaidir is the head of Seruyan District in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Seruyan District, a major palm oil producing district in Central Kalimantan, declared its commitment to becoming a pilot for jurisdictional certification in 2015. Since then, the district government, with the support of civil society organizations and the private sector, has launched a comprehensive effort for ensuring that palm oil is produced sustainably and inclusively in the district. These efforts have included mapping all independent oil palm smallholders in the district and establishing a facility for systematically providing inputs and training to smallholders. Moving forwards, the district will focus on protecting and restoring forest ecosystems as part of its revised spatial plan
Frederick Kugan
Sabah Forestry Department, Malaysia
Frederick Kugan
Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests (Planning and Management) Sabah Forestry Department, Malaysia
Mr Frederick Kugan is a forester by profession having graduated from Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) (1987) and from New Brunswick University, Canada (1991). He has been with the Sabah Forestry Department since 1987 and had served in various positions over the years. He is currently the Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests (Planning and Management). His current portfolio, amongst others, involves: Policy and Legislation, Forest Sectoral Planning, International and Corporate Affairs and Project Collaboration and Cooperation.
Maria Amparo Alban
ACD Consulting
Maria Amparo Alban
Executive Director & CEO ACD Consulting
Ecuadorian Lawyer, with an specialization on economic law, international trade and sustainability. Has performed extensive consultancy work nationally and internationally on environmental law, environmental compliance, international negotiations and sustainability and trade. In 2005 was appointed Undersecretary of Small Industries in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, had also performed as advisor to various Ministers of Trade and Industries, as well as advisor for different public and private entities, such the Ecuadorian Palm Oil Association. Founder of the Ecuadorian Center of Environmental Law – CEDA was later its executive director and CEO. Her work has been linked her to the Academia as well, and currently works for PROAMAZONIA, an UNDP technical cooperation project for the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment advising on different strategies for sustainable commodities promotion.
Dr Glyn Davies
WWF
Dr Glyn Davies
Senior Advisor & Co-Chair of RSPO JWG WWF
Glyn Davies is a Co-Chair of the RSPO Jurisdictional Working Group, with experience in international conservation and development: forest, wildlife and biodiversity policy and practice, striving for a planet where people and nature thrive. He has enjoyed residential postings in Asia (India, Malaysia), Africa (Sierra Leone, Kenya, Cameroun), USA and Europe (Brussels & UK).
In January 2018, Glyn returned to WWF Malaysia in Sabah to develop and support the Living Landscapes Programme. This programme seeks to integrate protection of forest lands, with sustainable production of palm oil, and restoration of riparian and other ecological corridors. The programme works with government, industry and civil society, to support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Sabah.
PLENARY SESSION 4- USING EVIDENCE TO DRIVE CHANGE
Vidya Rangan
ISEAL Alliance
Vidya Rangan
Senior Manager, Impacts and Evidence ISEAL Alliance
Vidya leads ISEAL’s Impacts and Evidence team that develops and shares credible evidence on the impacts of sustainability standards, especially ISEAL members. She focusses on strategic partnerships with research institutions, funders and others to promote new research as well as working on how to make research more accessible to stakeholders. As a technical lead with ISAL, she also works with member organisations to strengthen their monitoring and evaluation systems. She joined ISEAL in 2015 and prior to that worked with the Fairtrade system based out of London. Vidya holds an M Phil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford and is based in Bangalore, India.
Dr Jannick Schmidt
2.-0 LCA Consultants
Dr Jannick Schmidt
Chief Executive Officer 2.-0 LCA Consultants
Jannick Schmidt obtained his PhD in 2007 on an LCA study comparing palm oil and rapeseed oil. He is the CEO of 2.-0 LCA consultants, and he also holds an associate professorship at Aalborg University, Denmark.
Dr Sarah Lake
Climate Advisers
Dr Sarah Lake
Managing Director of Supply Chains Climate Advisers
Sarah Lake is Managing Director of Supply Chains at Climate Advisers, where she specializes in solutions to commodity-driven deforestation. She brings expertise in data-driven tools to drive private sector action on sustainable land use. Prior to joining Climate Advisers, Sarah co-led Trase (Transparency for Sustainable Economies) and served as the Head of the Supply Chain Program at Global Canopy. Earlier in her career she worked on Global Forest Watch as part of the World Resources Institute, supporting private sector engagement. At Global Canopy her team worked to drive the adoption and implementation of zero deforestation commitments by companies and financiers, as well as to advance the transparency of commodity supply chains. Sarah brings over a decade of experience on sustainable supply chains, with extensive in-country work in Indonesia and Brazil. Her doctoral research focused on how sustainability criteria altered supply chain relationships with applied studies in the U.S. cattle sector. Sarah earned her PhD in Economic and Environmental Sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Dr Matthew Struebig
Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent
Dr Matthew Struebig
Reader in Conservation Science Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent
Dr Struebig is a Reader in Conservation Science at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at University of Kent, UK. He has worked as an ecologist and conservation scientist in Southeast Asia for 20 years, and has spent much of his career documenting the effects of environmental change on wildlife in Indonesia and Malaysia. He leads a research group working on the valuation, design and management of modified landscapes in the tropics, and, more recently, on the social costs and benefits of environmental policies including those of the RSPO. He is a scientific advisor to the High Carbon Stock Approach, and on riparian policy for government partners in Sabah.
PLENARY SESSION 5- RSPO ISH STANDARDS: GALVANISING INDEPENDENT SMALLHOLDERS TO JUMP INTO THE BANDWAGON
Ashwin Selvaraj
RSPO
Ashwin Selvaraj
Head of Smallholder Programme RSPO
Ashwin Selvaraj joined the RSPO Secretariat in Europe in March 2016. In his current role, Ashwin assists companies that would like to switch to sourcing sustainable palm and palm kernel oil. In addition, Ashwin supports the certification bodies accredited for supply chain certification and also supports the Standing Committee on Trade & Traceability.
Ashwin is an engineer and holds an MBA in General Management from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Prior to joining RSPO, Ashwin has worked as a Business Analyst for an Investment Bank in India and the US for 5 years, followed by 4 years in the Traceability team at UTZ Certified. Ashwin also has experience with inclusive business, participatory and sustainable development
Rukaiyah Rafiq
FORTASBI
Rukaiyah Rafiq
Head Principle of Smallholder School FORTASBI
Rukaiyah Rafik (Uki) has been carving out career in NGO since 2000, starting as a Community Organizer volunteer with Walhi Jambi. During 2003-2005 she was the corporate campaigner with Sawit Watch Bogor. In 2007 she founded Yayasan Setara Jambi with a number of forest practitioners and has since been supporting independent smallholders by providing sustainable palm oil training and assistance.
She is also very active in various international and national forum. A graduate from the Environmental Science of Jambi University, and finished her Master in 2017, she is currently a ToT Trainer in sustainable palm oil certification.
With Yayasan Setara Jambi, she has successfully helped 2 independent smallholder`s group in Jambi and 4 similar groups in South Sumatera to obtain RSPO Certification.
Now, she also advisor of FORTASBI, and she is the head of FORTASBI School.
Michael Guindon
Zoological Society of London
Michael Guindon
Palm Oil Technical Advisor Zoological Society of London
Michael has worked in the environmental sector for over a decade. Since 2013, his work has focused on improving the sustainability of agriculture supply chains, working for both WWF and Global Canopy before moving to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in 2018. As the Palm Oil Technical Advisor at ZSL, he leads on the delivery of ZSL’s global palm oil strategy including research on the state of transparency within the sector and engagement with palm oil companies. He also sits on the Board of Governors of the RSPO and is active in several RSPO sub-committees including the Biodiversity and High Conservation Value working group, No Deforestation Taskforce, and Smallholder Standing Committee.
Ingrid Richardson
Unilever
Ingrid Richardson
Senior Manager of Sustainable Sourcing Unilever
Ingrid Richardson works as a Senior Manager in the Sustainable Sourcing at Unilever, with responsibility for designing and managing smallholder projects, working particularly with independent palm oils mills and managing digital projects in palm. Prior to Unilever and for the past ten years, Ingrid worked across SE Asia for NGOs focusing on program design, monitoring and evaluation. Ingrid also has previous experience in Australia working for Rabobank in agricultural market analysis. Ingrid has a degree in Agricultural Science and a Masters in Sustainable Development specialising in Rural Development.
Sharyn Shufiyan
Wild Asia
Sharyn Shufiyan
Partnership Services Lead Wild Asia
Sharyn Shufiyan is currently the Partnership Services Lead at Wild Asia. She supports Wild Asia's engagement, communication and management of external partnerships. Previously as a Technical Manager, she managed technical assessment projects and conducted Social Impact Assessments (SIA) utilizing methods of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Focus Group Discussions, interviews and facilitating workshops for estate workers and local communities. She also conducted social management workshops for oil palm plantation companies and is part of the training team for the RSPO Lead Auditors Course. She was involved in the initial stages of establishing the Wild Asia Group Scheme for Smallholders (WAGS).
Ian Orrell
New Britain Palm Oil Limited
Ian Orrell
Head of Sustainability & Quality Management New Britain Palm Oil Limited
Ian has 30-years’ experience in the palm oil industry and for most of this time has been involved in oil palm research; initially as an agronomist, but later spent 17-years as the CEO of the PNG Oil Palm Research Association. He was the CEO of the PNG Palm Oil Council, the industry peak body, for 5-years before joining NBPOL in 2015 to take up his current role as Head of Sustainability & Quality Management. Ian is a member of several PNG Government and institutional Boards & committees dealing with rural development, infrastructure, climate change, health and environment. He is the Deputy Chair of the Rural Industries Council of PNG. He is also a member of the RSPO’s Smallholder Standing Committee and the Standards Standing Committee.
Marieke Leegwater
Solidaridad
Marieke Leegwater
International Programme Coordinator Palm Oil Solidaridad
Marieke Leegwater coordinates the global Solidaridad Palm Oil Program, that works on sustainable and inclusive palm oil production and consumption. Within the programme Solidaridad supports farmers across all major palm oil producing regions to raise yields & incomes and cooperates with companies and other stakeholders throughout the value chain to build sustainable supply chains. Within the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Marieke was member of the RSPO P & C Task Force 2018 - with focus on smallholder matters and is member of the Complaints Panel. Before Marieke joined Solidaridad, she worked for the Dutch Product Board for Margarine, Fats and Oils (MVO), the industry association of the Dutch Oils and Fats Industry. In that role she facilitated the set up of the Dutch Task Force Sustainable Palm Oil and contributed to various RSPO and RTRS Working Groups. Marieke holds a master degree in Public Law.
PREPARATORY CLUSTERS
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 1- NATURAL PROCESSES, TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT, OR BOTH?
Cameron Plese
RSPO
Cameron Plese
Deputy US Representative RSPO
Cameron Plese is the Deputy US Representative for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Cameron has worked in international environmental conservation and policy in Latin America, East Africa, the United States, and Asia while working with various international organizations and NGOs. He holds a master’s degree in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Vera Belazelkoska
Ulula
Vera Belazelkoska
Director of Programs Ulula
Vera Belazelkoska is the Director of Programs at Ulula where she leads the development and implementation of worker engagement technologies to monitor and mitigate social and labour rights risks in global supply chains. She leads Ulula's strategic programs with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Responsible Business Alliance and manages collaborations with corporate partners, including AngloAmerican, DeBeers, Mars, Cargill, PepsiCo, among others. Vera has 10+ years of experience in international work, focusing on community engagement, financial inclusion and education in parts of Asia, Africa, Central and South America. She was a Rotary International Peace Scholar in Argentina and holds a Masters in Political Economy of International Development from the University of Toronto, and a specialization in Social Economy and Local Development from the University of Buenos Aires School of Economics. Vera sits on the management committee of the Commonwealth 8.7 Network and is passionate about developing transformative partnerships at company, grassroots and systems level.
Erik Malmstrom
SafeTraces
Erik Malmstrom
Chief Executive Officer SafeTraces
Erik Malmstrom is Chief Executive Officer at SafeTraces, a venture-backed ag-tech company with a breakthrough DNA-based barcoding solution that tracks and traces crops through the supply chain. He is a former Army infantry officer, combat veteran, and graduate of Ranger and Airborne Schools; co-founded CrossBoundary, a leading frontier market investment advisor; worked in several commercial roles at Cargill, the world’s largest agribusiness; served as White House Fellow at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and was General Manager of Crop Marketing at Farmers Business Network, a leading ag-tech company. He has been a Contributing Writer at the New York Times, Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Co-President of Harvard Alumni for Agriculture. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and a joint M.B.A. – M.P.P. from Harvard Business and Kennedy Schools.
Maria Goretti
Solidaridad Colombia
Maria Goretti
Palm Oil Programme Manager Solidaridad Colombia
Maria Goretti is the Palm Oil Pogramme Manager of Solidaridad in Colombia. Solidaridad is an international network organisation that supports producers, companies and government with the implementation of sustainable production models and foster sustainable trade internationally.
Maria Goretti has a Master in Business Administration at EUDE Business School in Madrid, Spain. She has over 9 years of experience working on sustainable development of palm oil in Latin America. She used to work at The Colombian Oil Palm Growers Federation (Fedepalma) and, nowadays, as part of Solidaridad, she is responsible for facilitating multistakeholders dialogues to support the continuous improvement of oil palm producers towards more sustainable practices, including the offer of services such as digital solutions, educational support, inclusive financial models and sustainability research.
Nicholas Cheong
BSI Group
Nicholas Cheong
Global RSPO Scheme Manager BSI Group
Nicholas is a trained Food Scientist and holds a Master Degree in Environmental Management. Started of his career as a Food Scientist, he had pursue advance education in environment with the passion of complimenting sustainability with food-agri.
Nicholas began his sustainability journey as a United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) authorized assessor for climate change programs. He has great experience in environmental compliance and an expert in GHG emission while had gained expertise in social compliance through his years of auditing. He has more than 10 years’ experience in assurance business particularly in the food-agri supply chain sector covering countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, China, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Liberia, Nigeria, Gabon, Pakistan and India. Recently, he had involved in the RSPO P&C 2018 Malaysia National Interpretation taskforce by providing inputs from a certification body perspective.
He is currently the Global RSPO Scheme Manager for BSI by Royal Charter, the world leading business standards company operating across 193 countries serving 83,000 customers. He is responsible for setting the BSI’s RSPO compliance framework and continue the passion of assessing compliances.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 2- ASSURANCE: KEEPING YOU IN CHECK
Liz Clarke
WWF Singapore
Liz Clarke
Global Palm Oil Lead WWF Singapore
Elizabeth (Liz) Clarke is the Global Palm Oil Lead for WWF, the world’s leading conservation organization. Liz is on the Board of Governors for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), is an Organising Committee member of the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), a Management Committee member of the HCV Resource Network, and on the steering groups of SASPO and HCSA. Prior to joining WWF, she managed the Business and Biodiversity Programme for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), to include the global palm oil programme and the launch of the Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT), and was a sustainability consultant for AECOM. Liz is a Board Member for the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network, and previously chaired the Biodiversity and Ecology section of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) and served on the Executive Committee of the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme (BBOP). Liz has a Masters in Environmental Policy from Cambridge University and a degree in Zoology from Imperial College, London.
Paul Wolvekamp
Both ENDS
Paul Wolvekamp
Advisor Both ENDS
Paul Wolvekamp (1961) obtained his bachelor's degree in law from Leiden University, graduated in political sciences and obtained his diploma in environmental sciences. He joined Both ENDS in 1989 and served for 15 years as its Deputy Director.
He worked on various assignments for the Dutch government, the European Commission and other agencies, in a wide range of areas, such as the development of an Indo-Dutch Environmental NGO Fund, evaluating the European Commission's contribution to dry land management, the 'Africa Regreening Initiative' and partnerships with companies in organic tea, timber, spices and palm oil.
Paul is member of the Board of Governors of the RSPO, vice-chairman of the Asia based NTFP Exchange Programme, co-chair of the RSPO Dispute Settlement Facility Advisory Board and chaired the Assurance Task Force. He served on the Supervisory Council of the Netherlands Committee for IUCN, the national Advisory Commission on Sustainable Biomass, the University of Wageningen Forestry course and the advisory panel of CIFOR’s forest certification programme.
He is editor and co-author of numerous publications, amongst which ‘Governance, agricultural development, nature conservation and land and water distribution in Africa’ (2015), ‘Forests for the Future (1999), 'Purposes and uses of a commonly structured Dispute Settlement Facility' (2010), Hybrid governance in agricultural commodity chains: Insights from implementation of ‘No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation’ (NDPE) policies in the oil palm industry (2018) and Transparency and sustainability in global commodity supply chains (2018).
Agus Purnomo
Golden Agri Resources
Agus Purnomo
Managing Director for Sustainability and Strategic Stakeholder Engagement Golden Agri Resources
Agus Purnomo joined GAR in October 2014. As MD for Sustainability and Strategic Stakeholder Engagement, he is responsible for planning GAR’s sustainability strategy, implementing, and communicating sustainable palm oil commitments throughout the entire value chain in collaboration with key stakeholders. Within the industry, Agus is recently taking responsible as Executive Committee of High Conservation Value Resource Network (HCV-RN) and Executive Committee of High Carbon Stock (HCS). He has also been voted as member of Board of Governors of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as well as The Chair of Indonesian Growers Caucus (IGC) to represent all Indonesian Palm Oil Members within RSPO.
Mr. Agus Purnomo has held many positions for the government, multilateral institutions, and international and national NGOs, focusing on the area of sustainability for more than 30 years. He has served, among others, as the Special Assistant to the President of the Republic of Indonesia for Climate Change (2010-2014); Special Assistant to the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Indonesia (2004-2009); Environmental Adviser to The World Bank (2002-2004); Country Representative/Executive Director of WWF Indonesia (1996-2002). Agus graduated with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Conservation Policy from Tufts University in the US in 1994 and a Master’s in Business Administration from Prasetya Mulya Management Institute in Indonesia in 1985.
Emily Kunen
Nestle S.A.
Emily Kunen
Global Responsible Sourcing Leader, Palm Oil & Seafood Nestle S.A.
Dr Marcus Colchester
Forest Peoples Programme
Dr Marcus Colchester
Senior Policy Advisor Forest Peoples Programme
Marcus Colchester received his doctorate in social anthropology at University of Oxford and has carried out extensive field research in applied anthropology in Amazonia, South and South-East Asia. His human rights advocacy related to development and conservation has earned him a Pew Conservation Fellowship and the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Lucy Mair Medal for Applied Anthropology. He is a founder member of the World Rainforest Movement and Founder-Director of the Forest Peoples Programme, where he is now Senior Policy Advisor, and has carried out several consultancies for international organisations.
He is a member of the High Conservation Values Resource Network Management Committee, a Senior Advisor of The Forest Dialogue and member of several RSPO working groups and advisory bodies. He has published extensively in academic and NGO journals and is the author and editor of numerous books including ‘The Struggle for Land and the Fate of the Forests’ (1993) with Larry Lohmann, Salvaging Nature: Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas and Biodiversity Conservation (1994, 2nd edn. 2004). He has been actively involved in developing standards and safeguards for international institutions including for the World Bank, World Commission on Dams, Extractive Industries Review, FAO, FSC, RSB and RSPO, notably with respect to the right to free, prior and informed consent.
Since 2004, much of his work has focused on the impacts of palm oil on indigenous peoples and other local communities and he has co-authored and edited numerous articles and books on the subject including Promised Land: Palm Oil and Land Acquisition in Indonesia – Implications for Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples and Ghosts on our own land: oil palm smallholders in Indonesia and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (both in 2006), Land is Life: Land Rights and Palm Oil Development in Sarawak (2007), Oil Palm Expansion in South East Asia: trends and implications for local communities and indigenous peoples (2011) and Conflict or Consent? The oil palm sector at a crossroads (2013).
He has also published detailed reports based on field studies of the challenges off applying High Carbon Stock and High Conservation Value concepts in customary rights areas. He is married, has two children and a grand-daughter, and lives in the Cotswolds in England.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 3- YOU, ME & THEM : CHAMPIONING RIGHTS
Jet Urmeneta
Verite Southeast Asia
Jet Urmeneta
Director, Capacity Building Verite Southeast Asia
Jet has over 15 years of experience working on labor, human rights, and global supply chain social responsibility issues. Her current responsibilities as Director for Capability Building for the Southeast Asia Region, includes developing programs for various stakeholders (Brands/MNCs/Buyers, Vendors/Licensees, Suppliers/Factories, Contractors/Sub-contractors, Workers, Governments, Employers’ Confederations, and Auditors/CSR practitioners) to find solutions, and develop strategies to address recurring social responsibility & compliance issues.
She has significant international experience on issues of Forced Labor and Trafficking, and implementation of ethical recruitment and employment standards. She has conducted assessments of different migration corridors, to determine the barriers for the effective implementation of the ethical recruitment standards and the employers pay principle. She also leads audits for special investigations for factory based foreign contract worker recruitment practices and develops and delivers training programs on Managing Forced Labor & Trafficking Risks for Brands, Suppliers, CSR Practitioners, Recruitment Agents.
Amalia Falah Alam
CNV Internationaal
Amalia Falah Alam
Country Representative Indonesia CNV Internationaal
15 years of experience in social research, development and sustainability, including grievance/ complaints mechanisms in a sustainability context. Have been working in various organisations, e.g. NGO, Research Centre, Government Institutions, United Nations Agencies, International Donor Organization and International Multi-stakeholders initiative/ Standard Setting Organization.
Currently working in promoting better working conditions in palm oil sector in Dutch trade unions, CNV Internationaal, and an European standard setting organization in garment sector, Fair Wear Foundation.
Education: Bachelor in Industrial Sociology, University of Indonesia Master in Regional Economics, University of Indonesia
Lara White
International Organisation for Migration
Lara White
Senior Specialist for Labour Migration and Human Development International Organisation for Migration
Lara White is the Senior Specialist for Labour Migration and Human Development of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), responsible for Asia-Pacific. Lara serves as the organization’s primary regional liaison with the private sector and other governmental, intergovernmental or civil society stakeholders on the protection of migrant workers’ rights throughout the labour migration process, including the promotion of ethical labour recruitment. In this capacity, she is one of the principle architects of the International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS), a voluntary multi-stakeholder assurance scheme for international labour recruiters. Before joining IOM, Lara worked for the Government of Canada and the US Government, bringing with her extensive experience in policy development and implementation of labour market programs such as the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and Canada’s Employment Insurance scheme.
Khai Yau Chua
Responsible Business Alliance
Khai Yau Chua
Senior Program Manager Responsible Business Alliance
Khai is a core staff of RBA’s Responsible Labour Initiative, a multi-industry, multi-stakeholder initiative focused on ensuring the rights of workers vulnerable to forced labour in global supply chains are consistently respected and promoted. He is currently leading the implementation of its Responsible Recruitment Programme that aims to transform the market for ethical recruitment practices – working directly with companies, suppliers and labour recruiters in the region. He started his career with HP in the year 2000 and before joining RBA has been working in areas of labour migration, human trafficking, border control and refugee protection in IOM and UNHCR.
Perpetua George
Wilmar International Limited
Perpetua George
General Manager- Group Sustainability Wilmar International Limited
Perpetua “Pep” George has a career spanning work in forest conservation, sustainable production consulting, the FMCG industry, and oil palm plantations. Previously working for Unilever, Proforest, and WWF - she is currently the General Manager for Group Sustainability in Wilmar International.
Her current responsibilities cover the implementation of sustainable practices in Wilmar’s plantation operations and spearheading the sustainable transformation of their supply chain. She is an active participant in the RSPO’s Human Rights Working Group and is also involved in wider engagement with stakeholders within the partnerships and initiatives that Wilmar belongs to such as PONGO Alliance, the Tropical Forest Alliance, and the Sabah Jurisdictional Approach Steering Committee. .
Pep holds an MSc in botany and anthropology, and her research expertise is in the natural resource use of local communities – focussing on how land and different forest types are valued amongst the indigenous communities of Sabah.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 4- RSPO IMPLEMENTING NO DEFORESTATION
Anne Rosenbarger
World Resources Institute
Anne Rosenbarger
SEA Commodities Manager/ RSPO Co-chair World Resources Institute
Anne Rosenbarger is the Southeast Asia Commodities Manager in the Food, Forests and Water Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI). Anne has been based with WRI in Indonesia since 2010, concentrating primarily on the links between commodity supply chains and forest conservation.
Her most recent focus is on increasing corporate sustainability in the palm oil sector via Global Forest Watch Pro, a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that unites satellite technology and open data to provide business-relevant analyses for better supply chain management. In this position, Anne works closely with companies from different regions across the palm oil supply chain, with government decision makers in SE Asia, with other civil society organizations, and with local community stakeholders.
Anne currently serves as a co-chair and representative of Environmental NGOs on the RSPO Board of Governors as well as various other RSPO groups such as the Standards Standing Committee BHCV WG, and No Deforestation Task Force.
Prior to joining WRI, Anne conducted research on a range of topics related to tropical ecology and community based forestry management. She received her Master's degree from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.
Olivier Tichit
Musim Mas Group
Olivier Tichit
Director for Sustainable Supply Chain Musim Mas Group
Olivier Tichit is the Director for Sustainable Supply Chain of Musim Mas Group, based in Medan (Indonesia). Musim Mas is a global palm products company, and a leader in sustainability. Olivier has been actively involved in the RSPO, co-chairing the Biodiversity and HCV working group, the Compensation task force, joining the P&C review task force, and has been an alternate member of the Board of Governors, representing Growers from the Pacific. He is the current co-chair of the Standing Committee for Standards. Olivier is a tropical agronomist by training. Prior to joining Musim Mas, Olivier was the Group Head of Sustainability, and Commercial Director (Indonesia), of SIPEF, a Belgian plantations group present in Cote d'Ivoire, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Earlier, he was the Indonesia Country Manager for Ecom Agroindustrial, and spearheaded coffee smallholders certifications. He is a member of the Board of GAPKI, the Indonesian Oil Palm Producters Association.
Lee Kuan Yee
KLK Bhd
Lee Kuan Yee
Senior Sustainability Manager KLK Bhd
Lee Kuan Yee was a scholar of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK). She graduated with first class honour in social science and joined KLK Sustainability Department in 2011. Currently, she is the Senior Sustainability Manager of KLK. She takes charge of KLK’s sustainability certification, external stakeholders’ engagement, traceability and smallholders project.
Kuan Yee is an alternate member represents MPOA in the RSPO Board of Gorvenance, co-chair of No Deforestation Task Force and a member of the RSPO Human Rights Working Group. She has served in the RSPO P&C Task Force 2018 and its interim groups on Smallholders. She is also a member of the Malaysia Industry Standards Committee on oil palm and its products.
Jenny Walther-Thoss
WWF Germany
Jenny Walther-Thoss
Policy Officer Sustainable Biomass & Standards WWF Germany
She is a Senior Policy Officer Sustainable Biomass & Standards for WWF Germany, Global Bioenergy Expert for WWF, Member of the Global Standard & Certification Team from WWF.
Working for WWF Germany since April 2013 as a policy officer for sustainable biomass, means the technical, energetic or material use of biomass.
Member in the WWF Global Standard and Certification Team
Responsible for the WWF Certification Assessment Tool and oversee all CAT assessments of standards worldwide
Member of technical working groups in the schemes Rainforest Alliance, RSPO, ISCC, ITC (international Trade Center) & Aireg (Sustainable Aviation Fuels Germany), member of the advisory board of SkyNRG
Background in Agriculture (M.Sc. International Agriculture) and Regional Development
Before WWF 7 years of experience in a certification and auditing company in the fields organic agriculture, liquid biofuels and solid biomass certification
Grant Rossoman
Greenpeace
Grant Rossoman
Global Forests Solutions Senior Advisor Greenpeace
Global forests solutions Senior Advisor for Greenpeace International with a focus on the showcasing and scaling-up of solutions to forest destruction and degradation globally. Co-founder of the multi-stakeholder High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) and has been central to the development of the HCSA methodology since 2011 that puts corporate and government ‘No Deforestation’ commitments into practice on the ground. A specialist in certification, in particular the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), having been involved with FSC since its inception, on the FSC International board (including chair), and the FSC Policy and Standards Committee. He has worked for Greenpeace for 25 years in a number of roles internationally as well as in New Zealand, the Pacific, and Indonesia. He has a B. Agri. and M. Appl. Sci. (nature conservation). 20 years experience supporting community forestry in Solomon Is, PNG and Indonesia. Also worked on timber markets transformation, and REDD national funding approaches. Authored and produced various papers, articles and reports from critiques of industrial tree plantations, logging and climate change, to conservation planning, community eco-forestry and the HCSA. Is a founding member of the industry/NGO initiatives the NZ Imported Timber Trade Group (ITTG) and the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), and is an associate member of the NZ Institute of Forestry
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 5- COFFEE WITH COMPLAINTS PANEL : WHAT'S BREWING?
Dan Strechay
RSPO
Dan Strechay
US Representative - Outreach & Engagement RSPO
Dan joined RSPO as the U.S. Representative of the RSPO in July 2016. Based in New York, he is now responsible for outreach and engagement activities to members and stakeholder in the U.S., as well as formalizing the RSPO’s presence in this important market.
Prior to joining the RSPO, Dan was the Senior Manager, Sustainability Communications for PepsiCo, located at the Purchase, NY headquarters where he worked on the implementation and communication of their “Performance with Purpose” vision, as well as providing support for the Office of Sustainability, Procurement, Public Policy and Government Affairs teams on sustainability issues and policies.
Previously, Dan was a member of the Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement Team in the Americas for Asia Pulp & Paper, supporting the launch of company’s zero deforestation policy, and the Group Director of Communications for the world’s largest publicly traded metal and electronics recycling company, Sims Metal Management.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 6- BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SMALLHOLDERS AND MARKETS
Elikplim Dziwornu Agbitor
RSPO
Elikplim Dziwornu Agbitor
Technical Manager, Africa RSPO
Eli joined RSPO in July 2017. Prior to that, he had spent nearly four years with Proforest, his last position being Senior Project Manager in the Africa Regional Office.
His over 10-years working experience has revolved mainly around sustainable forestry and agri-commodities supply chains. He had been leading second-party audits against RSPO and FSC Standards, as well as leading due-diligence assessments against the IFC Performance Standards, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the Nestle Responsible Sourcing Guidelines. He also provided technical support to forestry and agricultural enterprises to meet these requirements.
In Eli’s current role as the RSPO Technical Manager for Africa, he is responsible for providing technical support to oil palm growers and supply chain actors in the Region to achieve certification, and optimise the production and uptake of sustainable palm oil. He is also engaging the Regional stakeholders and building strategic working partnerships towards achieving RSPO's mission of making sustainable palm oil the norm in Africa. Eli has a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resources Management, and a Master’s Degree in Forest and Environmental Science.
Hiew Koh Thien
NY Hiew Holdings
Hiew Koh Thien
Director NY Hiew Holdings
I come from Tawau, a small agriculture town in Sabah, Malaysia. I have worked in my family palm oil business for almost 20 years now. Our company started engaging with smallholders in 2006 when we built our first palm oil mill.
I am currently helping to setup a cooperative with roughly 300 smallholders and 80 small growers for certification purposes. We aim to achieve group certification for RSPO in 2020.
Narno Sayoto
Asosiasi Petani Sawit Swadaya Amanah
Narno Sayoto
Group Manager Asosiasi Petani Sawit Swadaya Amanah
Ahmadou Cisse
Solidaridad Cote D'Ivoire
Ahmadou Cisse
Country Representative Solidaridad Cote D'Ivoire
Ahmadou Cisse is the Country Representative for Solidaridad in Côte d’Ivoire. He is an Agro-economist Engineer and holds a Master 2 in Project Management. Ahmadou Cisse brings more than 12 years of experience in development of sustainable agricultural value chains (oil palm, cocoa, coffee and cashew nut etc) working on smallholders support, certification, market linkages, community development, Youth engagement and livelihoods projects.
About oil palm supply chain, he has built his experience in different projects in West and Central Africa as Plantation Manager, Project Manager, Research officer, and Estate Manager. Ahmadou is a RSPO lead Auditor and bring technical supports to oil palm projects in several countries in Africa. He is also an active member of several national and international platforms addressing deforestation associated with palm oil.
Ivan Novrizaldie
Asian Agri Group
Ivan Novrizaldie
Certification and Traceability Senior Manager Asian Agri Group
Mr Ivan Novrizaldie is Certification and Traceability Senior Manager of Asian Agri Group, one of the world’s leading palm oil producers.
Mr Ivan is responsible for the sustainability certification process and FFBs traceability of all operational units in North Sumatera, Riau, and Jambi, and also responsible for certification process for smallholders.
During his career, Mr. Ivan has led various business development and implementation, internal audit, GIS, and Sustainability. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Finance in 2006 from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 7- OUR SHARED PLANET
Michael Guindon
Zoological Society of London
Michael Guindon
Palm Oil Technical Advisor Zoological Society of London
Michael has worked in the environmental sector for over a decade. Since 2013, his work has focused on improving the sustainability of agriculture supply chains, working for both WWF and Global Canopy before moving to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in 2018. As the Palm Oil Technical Advisor at ZSL, he leads on the delivery of ZSL’s global palm oil strategy including research on the state of transparency within the sector and engagement with palm oil companies. He also sits on the Board of Governors of the RSPO and is active in several RSPO sub-committees including the Biodiversity and High Conservation Value working group, No Deforestation Taskforce, and Smallholder Standing Committee.
Dr Jennifer Lucey
University of Oxford/ SEARRP
Dr Jennifer Lucey
Knowledge Exchange Fellow and SEnSOR Programme Manager University of Oxford/ SEARRP
Dr Lucey is a Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK and Programme Manager for the Socially and Environmentally Sustainable Oil palm Research (SEnSOR) programme: A multi-disciplinary research programme co-funded by the RSPO, to test the impact of palm oil certification. Jennifer completed her PhD at the University of York, UK, and has a scientific background in tropical biodiversity. Her current work focuses on translating science into policy and practice for improved sustainability in the oil palm industry.
Aida Ghani Quilter
Sime Darby Plantation Berhad
Aida Ghani Quilter
N/A Sime Darby Plantation Berhad
Aida has been working for more than eleven (11) years in sustainability department of Sime Darby Plantation. She currently studying for a master’s degree on developing an evidence-based policy and protocol for human-elephant conflict (HEC) in oil palm plantation with University of Nottingham, Malaysia and Management and Ecology of Malaysia Elephant (MEME). She had successful completed the HCV Lead Assessor Course in 2016, the EMS 14001:2004 Lead Auditor Course and Integrated Management System (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001) Auditing Course in 2008. She is an appointed Honorary Wildlife Warden by Sabah Wildlife Department (2014-2017, 2017-2020) and co-author of scientific paper: ‘A multi-stakeholder strategy to identify conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia’.
Dr Janice Lee
Nanyang Technological University
Dr Janice Lee
Assistant Professor Nanyang Technological University
Dr. Janice Lee obtained her PhD degree from ETH Zurich and was a Swiss National Science Foundation mobility postdoc in the Science, Technology and Environmental Policy programme at Princeton University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. Her research interests include investigating the drivers of pertinent Land Use and Land Cover Change in the tropics, evaluating management strategies for tropical forest-agricultural landscapes, and understanding the effects of environmental change on food security.
Faizal Parish
Global Environment Centre
Faizal Parish
Director Global Environment Centre
Faizal Parish is the Director of the Global Environment Centre, a Malaysian non-profit organization working throughout East and Southeast Asia on forest and peatland management, biodiversity, water resources and climate change. He is a wetland ecologist by training and has more than 35 years’ experience in assessment and management of peat swamp forests, mangroves and river systems. He is a Malaysian Permanent Resident and has been living in Malaysia since 1983. He has been the Director of Global Environment Centre since 1998 and is the Senior Technical Advisor of the ASEAN Programme on Sustainable Management of Peatland Ecosystems 2014-2020 (APSMPE). He was a Lead Author for Wetland Chapter of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and a contributing author to the 2013 IPCC Wetland Supplement.
He has been actively involved in the oil palm sector since 2004. He was the Co-chair of the RSPO Peatland Working Group (2009-2012) and RSPO Emission Reduction Working Group (2013-2017) and is currently the Co-chair of RSPO Peatland Working Group 2 (2017-2020). He coordinated the preparation of Guidelines for Minimising the impact of Oil Palm Plantations and Mills on River Water Quality in Sabah (2011). He is the lead author for the second edition of the RSPO Manual for BMPs for oil palm cultivated on peatlands. (2019) and the RSPO Manual on BMPs for Management and Rehabilitation of Peatlands (2019). He has advised a number of oil palm companies on peatland management, restoration and emission reduction.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 8- HOW TO CREATE RSPO 'NORM'
Inke van der Sluijs
RSPO
Inke van der Sluijs
Head of European Operations RSPO
Inke is the Head of European Operations of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). In her role she coordinates the team and supervises activities related to membership, certification, sustainable sourcing, and RSPO claims in the region. Further, she works with the supply chain accredited certification bodies, the National Initiatives on sustainable palm oil and other stakeholders in Europe. She enjoys the collaboration with all players to achieve full market transformation. Her previous position was at the Dutch Product Board for Margarine, Fats and Oils (MVO), where she worked as a policy advisor on sustainable development. Inke received her PhD in biology and worked in ecology, conservation, and sustainability projects.
Kristjan Jespersen
Copenhagen Business School
Kristjan Jespersen
Assistant Professor Copenhagen Business School
Kristjan Jespersen is an Assistant Professor in Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS). As a primary area of focus, he studies the growing development and management of transnational governance within the field of sustainability with a specific focus on the institutional strength of the RSPO. Within the field, Kristjan focuses his attention on the institutional legitimacy of sustainability initiatives and the overall compensation tools used to ensure compliance. He has a background in International Relations and Economics.
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 9- MOVING TOWARDS DEFORESTATION FREE SUPPLY CHAINS IN INDIA, CHINA AND MIDDLE EAST
Kamal Prakash Seth
RSPO
Kamal Prakash Seth
Country Head, India RSPO
Kamal’s vision is to be a catalyst for individuals and organizations to realize their true potential by sustainable actions, self-actualization and entrepreneurship. As the India Representative of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, he is working towards making sustainable palm oil the norm and contributing towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, amongst several others. Kamal has also been spreading the #DoWhatYouLove movement which is driven by his not-for-profit initiative 'Human Circle Foundation’.
Programs like 'Young India Challenge' are the drivers of the movement and the focus is to engage the millennials to connect their career with UN SDGs.
Rijit Sengupta
Centre for Responsible Business
Rijit Sengupta
Chief Executive Officer Centre for Responsible Business
Rijit Sengupta, hold a Post graduate degree in Agriculture from University of Calcutta, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Systems Management (specializing in Environment Management) from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISW&BM), Calcutta. He is an Alumni of the United Nations University (Tokyo) program on International Cooperation and Development. He has experience of over nineteen years in various areas of Sustainable Development policy and practice. Loves to cook and do birdwatching.
Paul Thachil
IFFCO Group
Paul Thachil
Managing Director - Oils & Fats IFFCO Group
Paul holds a Post - graduate degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and is also an Alumni of the Yale School of Management. He has an experience of over 29 years across various consumer organizations like Unilever, Mother Dairy and the IFFCO group where he has managed and co- created a range of large & diverse food businesses.
Jin Zhonghao
WWF China
Jin Zhonghao
Head of Markets Practice WWF China
Jin's main responsibility at present is to promote sustainable consumption and supply chain in China. The main tasks include promoting sustainable consumption of palm oil, soy, and meats to reduce global deforestation and ecological degradation. He has worked in WWF for more than 14 years and has rich experience in promoting sustainable consumption and responsible supply chain. Before joining the WWF, Mr. Jin had eight years of experience in international trade. He was the Director of the International Trade Department of China Forest Products Trade Co., Ltd. and the Deputy General Manager of Hunchun National Forest Trade Co., Ltd. Mr. Jin has served as Deputy Director and Associate Professor of Forestry Economics and Management Department of Beijing Forestry Cadre College.
Ashish Saraf
Manorama Industries Ltd
Ashish Saraf
President Manorama Industries Ltd
Mr Ashish Saraf is a Commerce Graduate with MBA and is with Manorama Industries Limited as President. Has 30years of experience out of which 27years spent with forest dwellers and have direct connection.
Starting with 3 manpower he has taken up the company to a Public Limited company with unique business model and niche products.
Manorama is pioneer and manufacturer-exporter of Cocoa Butter Equivalent(CBE) and Specialty Fats/Butters to Food, Confectionery, Chocolate and Cosmetic industries. Manorama is the first Forest Produce Company that has built a huge geographic network for sourcing sustainably from 7.8 forest dwellers with direct purchase that has increased their livelihood.
Recipient of various awards from Government and Non-Government authorities.
Morgan Gillespy
Climate Disclosure Project (CDP)
Morgan Gillespy
Global Director, Forests Climate Disclosure Project (CDP)
Morgan is dedicated to removing commodity driven deforestation in company supply chains. She joined CDP in 2013 and has worked across its technical, supply chain and water programs, most recently leading CDP’s work on water security. In 2017, she was named Head of Forests where she continues to focus on driving disclosure, transparency and action on the topic of deforestation. She has more than ten years’ experience working with the private sector, and now supports companies and investors to better understand and capitalize on the risks and opportunities they face resulting from a changing climate.
She holds an MSc in Environmental Technology form Imperial College London, specializing in Environmental Assessment and Analysis.
Haskarlianus Pasang
Golden Agri Resources
Haskarlianus Pasang
Head of Sustainability Policy and Compliance Golden Agri Resources
Birth of Place:
Rantepao, Tana Toraja, 8 October 1964
Education:
BSc : Forest Conservation - Bogor Institute of Agriculture (1989)
MEnvEng: Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia (2002)
PhD : Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia (2006)
Executive Programme: Darden Business School, University of Virginia , USA(2008)
Working Experiance :
July 2015 – now : Head of Sustainability Policy and Compliance GAR
April 2012-June 2015 : Sustainability Division Head PT SMART Tbk.
2007-2012 : Country Manager, AES AgriVerde Indonesia (US Company)
PREPARATORY CLUSTER 10- THE NEXT DECADE: PALM OIL & CERTIFIED SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL
Bilge Daldeniz
Proforest
Bilge Daldeniz
Programme Director, International Programmes Proforest
Bilge Daldeniz was the technical lead for the recent RSPO P&C Review process. At Proforest, Bilge is the Programme Director for International Programmes, which encompasses the International Training and the Support to Sustainability Initiatives programmes. Her technical work centres on the facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes, the development and delivery of capacity building programmes, and direct support on sustainable production to agricultural commodity companies. Bilge speaks English, French, Spanish and German, and holds a BA in Politics and an MRes in Environment and Development from Lancaster University, UK.
Bilge has substantial knowledge of agricultural commodity, biofuel, forestry and tourism standards (e.g. RSPO, FSC, RSB, SAN, RA) and worked with the standard-setting organisation Ecotourism Australia. She spent four years carrying out research at the Centre for Tourism in Islands and Coastal Areas, University of Kent (CENTICA) and six years leading multi-country research at international research consultancy Intersperience. She has extensive experience in international development cooperation, including humanitarian relief work for CARITAS, education projects with UNESCO in Senegal, study semesters in Togo and Mexico, and fieldwork in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. Bilge has been co-facilitating the process for RSPO Shared Responsibility.
Dr Sathia Varqa
Palm Oil Analytics
Dr Sathia Varqa
Owner and Co-founder Palm Oil Analytics
Dr. Sathia Varqa is the owner and co-founder of Palm Oil Analytics (POA), an online publisher of palm oil daily news, price, data and analysis based in Singapore, serving global commodity markets.
POA publishes two daily reports a day covering price assessments, analysis of key data and market commentary.
Sathia has been in the commodity information business for over 20 years, and owns POA together with a veteran palm oil broker with over 30 years’ experience.
Sathia previously worked for S&P Global Platts, a division of S&P Global (previously McGraw-Hill Finance) based in Singapore.
He holds a BA (Business Studies), Master degree in International Trade (Distinction) and a PhD in political economy from The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Rahul Rajashekar Shastry
Wilmar International Limited
Rahul Rajashekar Shastry
Manager, Sustainability & Supply Chain Wilmar International Limited
Rahul has been a member of the Sustainability & Supply Chain team at Wilmar since 2011. He leads the translation of market developments and requirements involving various sustainability certifications into the group’s expansive global palm oil operations covering the food, feed, chemical and energy businesses. He also oversees the strategic implementation of and compliance to various palm oil sustainability certifications traded in the market place, including the RSPO system, across the group’s value chain to facilitate the trading and planning of certified palm oil flows. He holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Visveswaraya Technological University, India and a master degree in Advanced Mechanical Engineering from Cranfield University, United Kingdom.
HS Yen
RSPO
HS Yen
Data Scientist RSPO
HS joined the RSPO Secretariat in August 2018 as Data Scientist and is responsible for data collection, processing and analysis efforts with a specific focus on Annual Communication of Progress reports to form narratives and promote transparency on the RSPO's initiatives and goals towards 100% usage of sustainable palm oil.
Prior to joining the RSPO, HS worked in a consulting/analytical capacity in the oil and gas industry, as well as in palm oil consultancy Palm Oil Analytics, focusing on short-term market trends impacting the pricing and trading of palm oil globally. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from SOAS, University of London.
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