July-August. 2026 | @ green • MAPAN ESG SUMMIT 2026 17
How green can palm oil be?
� Palm oil’ s sustainability focus is shifting from responsible sourcing to the more complex challenge of reducing carbon emissions.
�Stakeholder engagement has helped drive wider adoption of sustainability standards across the palm oil supply chain.
�He believes that carbon reporting can provide companies with the data needed to identify emissions and to establish pathways for reduction.
FOR the palm oil industry, proving that the crop is responsibly sourced is no longer the only sustainability question. The focus is increasingly shifting towards a more difficult task; reducing carbon emissions throughout the industry while keeping businesses competitive and operations reliable.
Mewah Oil and Fats Deputy Vice President of Group Operations and Sustainability, Department head Denny Chua said the industry had already made significant progress in embedding environmental, social and governance( ESG)
THE EDIBLE OIL VALUE CHAIN
RAW MATERIALS Responsible sourcing
SUPPLIERS NDPE commitments
PROCESSING Environmental & social practices
ENERGY Transition + decarbonisation
CARBON DATA Measure & report emissions
MARKETS Meet growing sustainability expectations
Sustainable value creation requires action across the entire supply chain. considerations into its supply chain.
Speaking at the MAPAN ESG Industry & Academic Summit 2026, Chua, who also spoke on the panel“ How Supply Chain Integration Drives Sustainable Edible Oil Value Creation”, said that sustainability requirements had evolved considerably since the introduction of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil( RSPO) in 2004.
The adoption of No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation( NDPE) commitments in 2014 further broadened the scope of responsible sourcing, with expectations extending across plantations, mills, refineries, traders and buyers.
BEYOND RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
While RSPO remains a voluntary certification, Chua said NDPE commitments had achieved much wider adoption across the global palm oil trade.
“ What Mewah does is primarily focused on stakeholder engagement,” he said, highlighting the company ' s approach of working directly with suppliers through workshops and discussions to strengthen sustainability practices.
Chua recalled that implementing NDPE was initially difficult, particularly when suppliers questioned how restrictions on land clearing would affect their businesses.
Over time, however, he said attitudes shifted as stakeholders increasingly rec-
Danny Chua pictured at his booth.
ognised that sustainability was ultimately about protecting resources and communities for future generations.
“ By nature, we humans want sustainability, because essentially that is for future generations,” he said.
The shift has also altered the profile of demand for sustainable palm oil.
Chua said responsible sourcing was once seen largely as a requirement from Western and European customers, but buyers in China, Pakistan, Turkey and India are now also seeking assurances about sustainability practices.
He said this could give Malaysia an opportunity to strengthen its position in the global palm oil market, particularly vis-à-vis Indonesia, which produces a larger share of global crude palm oil.
He said:“ One of the very important factors is sustainability.”
Yet responsible sourcing is only part of the challenge.
Chua said the industry ' s attention must increasingly focus on decarbonisation as Malaysia works towards its long-term carbon neutrality ambitions.
The transition, however, cannot be viewed solely through an environmental
RAISING STANDARDS: Danny Chua believes that palm oil sustainability is moving beyond responsible sourcing to carbon reduction.
lens. Businesses also have to consider whether alternative energy sources are affordable and whether they can provide a reliable supply.
“ Sustainability, affordability, and reliability,” he said, identifying the three factors that need to be considered when moving towards a new energy system.
THE NEXT HURDLE
For an industry dependent on continuous manufacturing and processing, Chua said uncertainty remained about whether available technologies could meet all three requirements at the required scale.
This makes carbon measurement increasingly important, as businesses need reliable data to determine where reductions are possible.
Chua said this was one reason carbon reporting featured prominently at the summit, which he viewed as a platform for linking academic knowledge to industry implementation.
He urged delegates not to leave sustainability discussions at a theoretical level, but to bring the lessons back to their organisations.
“ Adopt whatever important policies your company has. Ensure their implementation,” he said.
For Chua, the industry ' s green transition will therefore be measured not merely by the number of sustainability commitments it makes, but by whether those commitments can be translated into measurable changes in business operations.
As palm oil enters its next phase of ESG adoption, the question is no longer only whether the industry can source responsibly, but how quickly it can translate its environmental ambitions into measurable carbon reductions. – @ green