Singapore May Become the World’s First Country to Use Only Sustainable Palm Oil

An anti-haze charity in Singapore is working on having the whole nation of six million people use only sustainably-produced palm oil by 2023 – a first-of-its-kind effort aimed at reducing forest fires and air pollution in the region.

The charity, The People’s Movement to Stop Haze (PM Haze), is receiving support from several organizations including agribusiness group Wilmar International – whose main product is palm oil – and will kickstart the green campaign in January, focusing on restaurants and cooking oil, before moving on to other businesses.

“It is a symbolic move for Singapore,” says Benjamin Tay, executive director of PM Haze, to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, highlighting that several businesses have already committed to using only sustainable palm oil.

If the mission proves successful, Singapore – home to many of the biggest palm oil companies – could become the very first country in the world to only use ethical and green palm oil.