Why support a sector that is known to pose social and environmental management challenges?
IFC recognizes that the palm oil industry poses a number of social and environmental challenges. These include the impacts of palm oil production on local communities, forests, wildlife habitat, and endangered species. IFC believes that these challenges can be managed within IFC’s sustainability framework, which provides guidelines on how to address and resolve issues related to community engagement, as well as protection of biodiversity and wildlife. IFC pursues a policy of engaging with the private sector and other stakeholders to seek solutions to address the challenging environmental and social issues associated with the sector. IFC is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a multi-stakeholder association which includes palm oil producers, users and civil society groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, the Rainforest Alliance, and Conservation International, among others. RSPO is working on establishing sustainable practices in the sector (see below). Sus
