“Sustainable palm oil” sounds like the kind of feel‑good phrase that belongs on organic granola bars and natural shampoos. It hints that you can enjoy creamy textures and long shelf life without destroying rainforests or harming wildlife. But dig into how “sustainable” and “organic” palm oil are actually certified, and a much messier picture emerges: forests still get cleared, orangutan habitat still shrinks, and Indigenous communities still lose land—while products wear green labels that reassure consumers everything is fine.
This is the dirty secret: organic certification mainly cares about how crops are grown (no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers), while sustainable palm oil schemes like RSPO mainly care about minimum standards and paperwork. Neither, by default, guarantees that the palm oil in your organic products is deforestation‑free, conflict‑free, or truly climate‑friendly.
How Palm Oil Ended Up in “Eco” and Organic Products
Palm oil is in everything from cookies and plant‑based ice cream to soap, lipstick, candles, and “natural” cosmetics. It’s popular because it’s:
- Cheap and highly efficient (huge yield per hectare compared to other vegetable oils)
- Semi‑solid at room temperature (great for texture)
- Stable and slow to oxidize (long shelf life)
As consumers pushed back against trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and petrochemical ingredients, many brands quietly swapped in palm oil—then later grabbed for “sustainable” and “organic” labels when deforestation scandals hit the headlines.
Today you’ll see several flavors of “good” palm oil on organic products:
- Certified organic palm oil
- RSPO‑certified sustainable palm oil (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil)
- Sometimes both, or layered with other seals like Rainforest Alliance
On the surface, that sounds responsible. Underneath, there are two big problems: what organic actually covers, and how “sustainable” palm oil certification works in practice.
Problem #1: Organic Palm Oil Can Still Come from Destroyed Forests
Organic certification is mainly about inputs and farm management, not land‑use history.
A palm plantation can be certified organic if it:
- Uses no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers
- Follows certain soil and crop management rules
- Meets organic auditing and documentation requirements
What organic does not regulate well is:
- Where the plantation was established
- Whether rainforest was cleared to plant those palms
- Whether peatlands were drained
- How local communities’ land was acquired or whether there were human rights abuses
As one organic palm producer explains candidly:
“While organic certification ensures chemical‑free farming, it does not regulate how land is acquired or whether forests are cleared. This means organic palm oil plantations can still contribute to deforestation if they are developed on previously forested land.”
In practice, this means a company can:
- Clear tropical rainforest or community land.
- Establish a palm plantation.
- After a few years, stop using chemicals and apply for organic certification.
The result? Organic palm oil grown on land that was very recently intact forest—now wearing a green halo.
Some Southeast Asian palm oils that are fully organic today were indeed developed on former rainforest land. The forests are gone, the CO₂ is in the atmosphere, the wildlife corridors are severed—but the oil now qualifies as “organic.”
So when an organic cookie or shampoo proudly announces “with organic palm oil,” that tells you almost nothing about deforestation, biodiversity, or land grabs. It mostly tells you that the plantation uses different chemicals (or none), not that the ecosystem is intact.
Problem #2: The RSPO “Sustainable” Label Is Weaker Than You Think
To answer global criticism, the industry built the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), which certifies palm oil as “sustainable” if it meets a set of environmental and social criteria.
On paper, RSPO standards promise:
- No deforestation of primary forests or high conservation value (HCV) areas
- No new planting on peat (since 2018)
- Protection of endangered species and key habitats
- Reduced carbon emissions and protection of water and soil resources
RSPO and member companies regularly highlight that about 19–20% of global palm oil is now certified and that compliant plantations help halt deforestation and protect biodiversity.
But investigations and meta‑analyses tell a much harsher story:
- Studies show that RSPO certification has not stopped deforestation—at best, it has slightly slowed it. Certified plantations have still been associated with forest loss and habitat degradation, especially in Sumatra and Borneo.
- RSPO allows certification of plantations established on previously cleared forest: a company can clear rainforest, operate non‑certified for a while, then apply for RSPO certification later—masking the true land‑use history.
- Critiques from NGOs argue the scheme has weak standards, limited enforcement, and minimal consequences for non‑compliance.
A 2020 satellite‑image analysis found that areas producing certified “sustainable” palm oil in Sumatra and Borneo had still undergone significant deforestation and habitat degradation over 30 years. Another summary notes bluntly:
“Studies have repeatedly shown that certified sustainable palm oil does not stop deforestation (although it may slow it down).”
In early 2024, more than 100 environmental and human rights organizations signed a joint statement titled “The RSPO and ‘sustainable’ palm oil: 19 years of deception is enough,” calling the label a tool for greenwashing rather than real transformation.
They argue that RSPO:
- Certifies plantations linked to land grabs, labour exploitation, and violence against communities.
- Serves as a public‑relations shield for major corporations, rather than an effective watchdog
That means the “sustainable palm oil” logo on many organic‑branded products may have more marketing value than ecological substance.
Problem #3: New “Improved” Standards Still Leave Big Loopholes
In 2025, a new ethical palm oil standard linked to RSPO reforms faced backlash even before it was fully issued. Critics raised several red flags:
- Carbon‑only forest definitions
- The revised criteria focus heavily on the carbon value of forests, potentially allowing the clearance of forests with lower carbon density—but high biodiversity or cultural value—if plantations can be argued to store similar or more carbon.
- This ignores broader ecological roles of forests (biodiversity, water regulation, Indigenous cultural significance) and treats them like interchangeable carbon stocks.
- RaCP “compensation” mechanisms kept
- The RSPO retained a controversial mechanism (Remediation and Compensation Procedure, RaCP) allowing some historical deforestation or non‑compliance to be “offset” rather than strictly prevented.
- NGOs argue this weakens the “no deforestation” claim and could even put RSPO at odds with stricter policies like the EU Deforestation Regulation.
- Special dispensation for some deforestation
- New rules include dispensations that allow some deforestation by Indigenous and local communities while still qualifying for certification under certain conditions.
- While supporting community livelihoods is important, critics worry this can be exploited by companies partnering with local entities on paper while still enabling damaging expansion.
The result: even the “upgraded” RSPO framework still leaves room for forest conversion to oil palm under certain rationalizations, especially when decisions are framed purely in terms of carbon accounting rather than holistic ecological value.
The Double Greenwash: Organic + Sustainable Palm Oil
Here’s where this matters directly for your organic pantry and bathroom shelf.
Many organic brands now use organic RSPO‑certified palm oil, then market it as:
- “Organic and sustainable palm oil”
- “Responsibly sourced, RSPO certified”
- “From sustainable, organic plantations”
The problem is that:
- Organic doesn’t guarantee the plantation wasn’t carved out of rainforest or peatland.
- RSPO “sustainable” doesn’t guarantee that forest conversion, land conflicts, or biodiversity loss aren’t in the plantation’s history or even ongoing in nearby concessions.
So the combo can become a double layer of greenwash:
- Consumers see organic + sustainable logos and assume “no deforestation, no harm.”
- In reality, the palm oil may come from land that was forest a decade or two ago, habitat that still shows up as loss in satellite data, or landscapes where people are still fighting land grabs and water pollution.
Ethical Consumer’s 2024 deep dive into RSPO notes accusations that plantations with RSPO certification have been associated with child labour, poor working conditions, land conflicts, and ongoing deforestation, while still allowed to use the green label on their oil.
Is There Any Such Thing as “Good” Palm Oil?
There are genuine attempts to do better within the palm sector:
- Some producers pursue organic + RSPO NEXT or Rainforest Alliance certification, which add stricter no‑deforestation, no‑peat, and human rights criteria on top of basic RSPO rules.
- RSPO’s highest traceability tier, Identity Preserved (IP), ensures palm oil is kept separate from non‑certified sources, at least limiting mixing and leakage in supply chains.
- A few countries (like Gabon) are trying national‑scale zoning and stricter planning to limit new plantations to already degraded land while protecting intact forests.
These steps are better than doing nothing. But they still sit inside a larger context where:
- Palm oil remains a major global driver of deforestation and peat destruction, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, and increasingly parts of Africa and Latin America.
- Certification bodies have structural conflicts of interest: they depend on industry participation and fees, which can make tough enforcement politically and financially difficult.
- Global demand is so high that even “sustainable” expansion can be incompatible with keeping remaining forests intact if total area keeps growing.
So the honest answer is: there can be “less bad” palm oil, and some producers are genuinely trying—but the average “sustainable palm oil in organic products” claim is far cleaner on the label than on the land.
What You Can Do as a Consumer (Without Going Crazy)
You don’t have to become a full‑time palm oil detective, but you can make more informed choices:
- Know what the labels really mean
- Organic palm oil = fewer synthetic chemicals, not necessarily forest‑friendly.
- Basic RSPO = some minimum social/environmental criteria but documented loopholes and weak enforcement.
- RSPO NEXT, RSPO IP, and Rainforest Alliance generally indicate tighter standards and traceability, though still not perfect.
- Prioritize brands that go beyond “RSPO member” language
Look for clearer commitments like:- “100% deforestation‑free, no‑peat palm oil, fully traceable to plantation”
- “Sourcing only from smallholder or agroforestry projects on existing agricultural land”
- Third‑party investigations or transparent sourcing maps, not just logos.
- Support products that avoid palm oil where it’s not necessary
In some uses (certain processed foods, cosmetics), palm oil is just the cheapest option. You can:- Choose brands that formulate with alternative oils (sunflower, rapeseed, shea, cocoa, etc.) where practical.
- Accept slightly different textures or shorter shelf lives as the trade‑off for less destructive supply chains.
- Use less ultra‑processed stuff overall
Palm oil shows up most in highly processed foods and products. Simply cooking more from scratch and simplifying your personal care routine automatically reduces palm oil demand. - Add your voice
NGOs have shown that pressure from consumers and retailers nudges big buyers to tighten standards. Support campaigns that call out greenwashing and push for:- Legally enforceable deforestation‑free supply chains
- Stronger, independent auditing of certification schemes
- Protection of Indigenous land rights and community consent
The Bottom Line
The dirty secret behind “sustainable” palm oil in organic products is that labels are miles ahead of reality. Organic certification cuts synthetic chemicals, not deforestation. RSPO certification improves some practices, but doesn’t reliably stop forest loss, land conflict, or biodiversity collapse—and it’s been heavily criticized as a greenwashing tool by dozens of NGOs and researchers.
That doesn’t mean every drop of palm oil is evil or that all certified producers are bad actors. It does mean that the reassuring green badges on your organic cookies or shampoo are only a starting point—not a guarantee—that no forest, orangutan, or community paid the price.
If you care about what’s happening on the ground, the most “sustainable” move is to reduce unnecessary palm oil use, favor brands with transparent, deforestation‑free sourcing, and treat certification logos as clues—not proof—of true sustainability.
