Palm Oil – Towards a Sustainable Future? Challenges and Opportunities for the Swedish Food Industry
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s Water and Environmental Studies Department of Thematic Studies Linköping University Palm oil – towards a sustainable future? Challenges and opportunities for the Swedish food industry Sara Nilsson Master’s programme Science for Sustainable Development Master’s Thesis, 30 ECTS credits ISRN: LIU-TEMAV/MPSSD-A--13/011--SE 1. Linköpings Universitet s Water and Environmental Studies Department of Thematic Studies Linköping University Palm oil – towards a sustainable future? Challenges and opportunities for the Swedish food industry Sara Nilsson Master’s programme Science for Sustainable Development Master’s Thesis, 30 ECTS credits Supervisor: Madelene Ostwald 2013 Upphovsrätt Detta dokument hålls tillgängligt på Internet – eller dess framtida ersättare – under 25 år från publiceringsdatum under förutsättning att inga extraordinära omständigheter uppstår. 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For additional information about Linköping University Electronic Press and its procedures for publication and for assurance of document integrity, please refer to its www home page: http://www.ep.liu.se/. © Sara Nilsson Table of contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 1 List of abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Problem formulation ................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Aim and research questions ........................................................................................ 4 1.3 Thesis disposition ....................................................................................................... 4 2. Method and materials ...................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Scientific approach ...................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Case study ......................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Data gathering ............................................................................................................. 5 2.2.1 Literature review ............................................................................................... 5 2.2.2 Document analysis ............................................................................................ 5 2.2.3 Interviews .......................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Interview implementation ........................................................................................... 6 2.3.1 Informants ......................................................................................................... 7 2.3.2 Interview questions ........................................................................................... 7 2.3.3 Thematic analysis ............................................................................................. 7 2.4 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 8 3. Background ....................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Oil palm ...................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 From plantation to final use ........................................................................................ 9 4. Theoretical framework .................................................................................................. 11 4.1 Sustainability as a concept ........................................................................................ 11 4.2 The three pillars of sustainability .............................................................................. 12 4.3 The three pillars and their relation to palm oil .......................................................... 13 4.3.1 Environmental ................................................................................................. 13 4.3.2 Social .............................................................................................................. 14 4.3.3 Economical ..................................................................................................... 15 4.3.4 Health .............................................................................................................. 17 5. The Case .......................................................................................................................... 18 5.1 Axfood ...................................................................................................................... 18 5.2 The concept of Roundtable ....................................................................................... 19 5.2.1 The development of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ............................. 19 5.2.2 RSPO challenges and systems ........................................................................ 20 5.2.3 Critic towards RSPO ....................................................................................... 22 5.2.4 RSPO and the renewable energy directive ..................................................... 23 6. Results ............................................................................................................................. 25 6.1 Axfood and palm oil ................................................................................................. 25 6.2 Sustainability ............................................................................................................ 26 6.2.1 Environmental ................................................................................................. 27 6.2.2 Social .............................................................................................................. 28 6.2.3 Economical ..................................................................................................... 28 6.2.4 Health .............................................................................................................. 29 6.3 RSPO ........................................................................................................................ 30 6.3.1 The certification systems ................................................................................ 31 6.3.2 Palm oil and the future .................................................................................... 32 7. Discussion and conclusions ............................................................................................ 34 7.1 Sustainability ............................................................................................................ 34 7.1.1 Environmental ................................................................................................. 35 7.1.2 Social .............................................................................................................. 36 7.1.3 Economical ..................................................................................................... 36 7.1.4 Health .............................................................................................................. 37 7.2 RSPO ........................................................................................................................ 37 7.3 Conclusions ..............................................................................................................