In 2012, 8.2 million metric tons, or 15 per cent of palm oil, was
produced in compliance with a global sustainability standard.
Despite the recent sharp growth in standard-compliant production
volumes, calls for sustainability within the industry are not a recent
phenomenon. Of particular note in recent history, the palm oil
sector became an area of heavy contention during the Asian Crisis
in 1997 when Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Colombia
and parts of Africa suffered severe forest fires that caused much
of Southeast Asia to be covered by smog for extended periods.2
Various organizations such as WWF and the International Union for
Conservation of Nature worked on establishing the causes of these
fires and, in some cases, it was determined that they were being
used to clear land for oil palm plantations (Rowell & Moore, 2000).
Concerns over deforestation were the initial focus, but eventually
the scope broadened to the impacts on biodiversity, land use and
social conflicts related to palm oil production. In particular, the
orangutan became a central figure of the movement due to the
impact of deforestation on its habitat.