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Search At the Sustainable Palm Oil Dialogue (SPOD) Europe 2025 on 21 May, over 250 stakeholders from business, civil society, and government gathered to explore the role of companies in creating fair, equitable, and sustainable palm oil supply chains.
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) was represented across two key sessions, offering perspectives and sharing insights from its collaboration with members through coalitions focusing on palm oil – a commodity that remains high-risk for both deforestation and human rights violations.
Didier Bergeret, Director of Sustainability at CGF, spoke in Plenary Session I: The journey of social sustainability in palm oil, reflecting on how the understanding of social sustainability has evolved over the past decade, highlighting emerging trends and sharing learnings from the Forest Positive, Human Rights and Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative Coalitions of Action.
Emphasising the need to move beyond compliance, Bergeret advocated for a model that demonstrates how production and consumption can be positive for both people and the planet. He also challenged the overreliance on certifications, noting they often compensate for regulatory gaps and must be improved to deliver meaningful impact. Additionally, he pointed to the importance of simplifying how human rights and sustainability are communicated at the executive level, encouraging a shift from risk-based thinking to a focus on priorities and positive outcomes.
“We need to move away from just compliance and show that production and consumption can be positive for both people and planet.” – Didier Bergeret, Director of Sustainability at CGF
Veronique Bovee, Deputy Director Company Collaboration at Proforest, a technical and strategic CGF partner, joined Parallel Experts session on: Organising the derivative supply chain for sustainability, discussing how the specificities of the derivatives supply chain requires a tailored approach with an example on landscape risk mitigation for DCF smallholders.
Organised by Action for Sustainable Derivatives, IDH and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), SPOD provides a critical platform for solution-oriented discussions in meeting emerging regulatory and stakeholder expectations. CGF’s active engagement reinforces its role in uniting the consumer goods industry around pre-competitive collaboration and action.
