The latest annual ranking of producers, processors and traders on the public disclosure of their policies, operations and commitments to environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practice by independent online platform SPOTT is showing a substantial improvement among Indonesian palm oil companies.
The Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT) Ranking issued this month, assessed the transparency of 100 palm oil companies from across the globe regarding their ESG policies. However, SPOTT which is a platform developed by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), also warned that these policies and commitment were not necessarily translated effectively on the field.
From 20 Indonesia-headquartered companies assessed in the SPOTT ranking, palm oil plantation and processing company PT Dharma Satya Nusantara Tbk (DSNG) ranked top at the 16th place with a score of 75.3 percent, a whooping rise from its 46th place in the same ranking last year.
“We are determined to integrate ESG in all aspect of our operation as a way for us to do business,” DSNG President Director Andrianto Oetomo said in a written statement, adding that the ranking this year was a reflection of the company’s seriousness and commitment to step up its good ESG management practice.
DSNG specifically scored 71.8 percent in its environmental aspect, 80.6 percent for its social aspect and 59.0 percent for its governance aspect. Under the SPOTT ranking this year, DSNG also was the company with the highest level of efforts to change, with a score of 38.7 percent.
The second placed Indonesian-headquartered company was Asian Agri Group which placed 22nd with a score of 71.2 persen, followed by Austido Nusantara Jaya at 26th with 68.1 percent, Eagle High Plantation Tbk at 31st with 62.6 percent and Triputra Agro Persada Group at 33rd place with a score of 62.1 percent.
The top three ranks were occupied respectively by Papua New Guinea’s New Britain Palm Oil Ltd. with a score of 94.4 percent, Daabon Group from Columbia with 89.8 percent and Wilmar International which has its headquarters in Singapore, with 88.9 percent.
Three other companies with large operations in Indonesia but headquartered in Singapore were also among the 16 top positions. They were Musim Mas Group at 6th position with a score of 85.7 percent, Apical at 8th with 82.5 percent and Golden Agri at 10th position with 81.2 percent.
The SPOTT report also showed that from the 100 companies assessed, 60 had put in place clear sustainability policies that applied to all their operations, 57 had a sustainability policy that applied to all their supplier, 41 companies had one or more board members with responsibility for sustainability while 39 were members of external industry schemes or initiatives to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.