Source : Procurement Leaders

Unilever has pledged to buy all its palm oil from traceable sources by 2020, replacing an earlier target of sourcing the oil through the GreenPalm certificate scheme by 2015.

Delivering its first year sustainability progress report the company said that it would meet its target of sourcing 100% of its palm oil from sustainable sources three years ahead of schedule through the purchase of GreenPalm certificates.

But it admitted that the GreenPalm scheme was not the long–term answer to the issue saying “the company recognises that the GreenPalm scheme is only a step along the road towards sustainable palm oil, not the end-game.”

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, Unilever’s new goal is to buy all of its palm oil from certified, traceable sources by 2020.

Marc Engel (pictured), chief procurement officer at Unilever told the Wall Street Journal that “I am not aware of anyone else who has made that commitment, particularly on our scale."

While Alan Chaytor, executive director of New Britain Palm Oil, told the Financial Times that “I’m pleased that they’ve admitted that [certificates] are not the way forward.

“But you need to have a road map to get there and I think that only comes with interim targets,” he added.