Krabi, 27 September 2024 – Global Green Chemicals Public Company Limited (GGC) teamed up with GIZ, the Department of Agriculture (DoA), palm oil mill partners, and smallholder farmers in four southern provinces of Thailand to scale up sustainable palm oil production to low-carbon oil palm production through the new Sustainable Palm Oil and Oil Palm Production and Procurement Project on Climate Mitigation and Adaptation (SPOPP CLIMA), which was launched at an event held at Centara Ao Nang Beach Resort and Spa in Krabi.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today to underscore public-private partnership in reducing climate impacts through SPOPP CLIMA project implementation. GGC and GIZ management executives and representatives from Department of Agriculture, palm oil mill operators and oil palm smallholders in Chumphon, Krabi, Phang-Nga and Trang provinces participated in the signing ceremony.

SPOPP CLIMA is a scale-up and follow-on project to the Sustainable Palm Oil and Oil Palm Production and Procurement (SPOPP) project, which supported the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard. In 2022, GGC and GIZ together with palm oil mill operators and oil palm smallholders throughout the project’s four pilot provinces signed an MoU to drive sustainable palm oil production and procurement.

Funded by GGC and implemented by GIZ with the collaboration of the Department of Agriculture, the successful implementation of the SPOPP project highlighted the role of public-private partnership in enhancing smallholder capacities in sustainable palm oil production practices.

Kridsada Prasertsuko, GGC’s Managing Director, announced: “We drive our agency to meet the strategy of sustainable business in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Our business strategy covers all aspects including economic, social and environmental development, to create trust in sustainable business growth, adding value and upscaling business operations to meet national and international standards of leading environmental-friendly petrochemical products. We’re committed to 20% carbon emission reduction by 2030 and the Net Zero target by 2050. We’re also supporting climate change management through business operations and product manufacturing. GGC links the successful implementation of the SPOPP project with our sustainable business strategy of carbon emission reduction. GGC will work with GIZ to implement SPOPP CLIMA over the period 2024-2027 to support our oil palm smallholders in reducing carbon emissions and their carbon footprints. Together, our goal is to achieve the Net Zero goal by 2050, while promoting sustainable oil palm production in line with the European Union Deforestation-free Regulations (EUDR), which come into effect on 1 January 2025. This cooperation will not only reduce the climate impact on the agricultural sector, but also enhance sustainability for the oil palm industry and the visibility of the Thai oil palm industry in the global market.”

Julian Tost, Project Director of the Agriculture and Food Cluster Coordinator, GIZ Thailand, remarked: “The SPOPP CLIMA Project aims to shape the transformation of agriculture in Thailand towards sustainable and climate-smart production. The project also aligns with the GIZ Thailand’s Agriculture and Food Cluster’s mission and goal of promoting food security, enhancing livelihoods and resilience of farmers, fostering economic growth while protecting the environment and mitigating climate change. This accomplishment of the SPOPP project unlocked the potential to generate 11,047 tonnes of RSPO-certified palm oil and 1,243 tonnes of traceable RSPO-certified palm kernel oil for the global market and overall sustainable palm oil production in Thailand.

“The partnership with GGC through SPOPP CLIMA leverages a sustainable, traceable and low carbon value chain. Collaboration between public and private agencies, palm oil mill operators and farmers in Thailand will lead to a joint development of over 1,000 model farmers, and more than 50 trainers to continue expanding success and sustainability of oil palm production to other areas. Data on carbon footprints will also be collected during training sessions throughout the implementation period of the SPOPP CLIMA project, leading to an opportunity for low-carbon oil palm plantation management in the long run.”