(Wilmar)
Topic 2: Issues related to Wilmar's compliance with national laws and procedures – particularly with respect to environmental permits and burning.
Adri: Agreement last year to form two working groups:
social and legal aspects
want to know how CAO deals with category number 3 (April 19 or 25, put the appraisal)
Communities and CSOs are concerned that:
Wilmar is sometimes operating without full permits and
has cleared land without waiting to complete environmental impact assessments and
Obtain the necessary environmental permits.
Furthermore, they believe Wilmar has been responsible for using fire to clear land.
From Wilmar’s perspective, in common with other operators in the sector, local government authorities have sometimes given permission to clear land while environmental impact assessments are still underway. There are inconsistencies between the national and kabupaten levels of government which make it difficult to know which rules to follow. Wilmar and IFC have both expressed concern that local regulating authorities sometimes require Wilmar to utilize contractors that are not timely, and often lacking in experience/capacity. This means that EIA’s are poorly integrated into the decision-making process.
With respect to the use of fire to clear land, Wilmar is willing to work with CSO’s as well as others to demonstrate, beyond reasonable doubt, that it does not set or promote fire on its properties. Wilmar has requested that CSOs meet, together with external experts, to agree how to create a system that provides credible and trustworthy information on this important topic.
In addition to addressing specific concerns associated with Wilmar, there may be an opportunity to find effective solutions that will have relevance to the sector as a whole. However, in order to work, these issues will require involvement of environmental and fire experts, and possibly representatives from the government of Indonesia, including the Ministry of Environment.
Topic 3: Issues related to the IFC.
Complainants have also raised questions which relate to the IFC’s investment in the project, and specifically its adherence to applicable IFC policies and guidelines:
Is the environmental category designated by IFC (Category C) appropriate? How does IFC provide adequate safeguards to protect affected communities and their environment in this case, and what is the role of other IFC initiatives that have been implemented?
Why were the older Safeguard Policies, rather than the new Policy and Performance Standards, applied, at least to IFC's last investment in Wilmar?
How can IFC provide more consistent access to information when requested by civil society?
How can IFC serve as a responsible investor within the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)? What does it mean to apply RSPO principles and criteria at the same time as IFC standards? How should IFC make public comments or notifications in its documents/websites that are consistent with RSPO?
IFC staff/managers in Jakarta and Washington have acknowledged that the concerns raised by the complaints – relating to community land insecurity, confusing permitting procedures and proper use of EIA’s – are highly visible and problematic. From IFC’s perspective, the problems raised go beyond the operations of Wilmar and raise complicated issues relating to national regulations in Indonesia. Through its own membership of RSPO as well as the specific projects launched alongside its investments in Wilmar, IFC believes that it has taken some steps to address these concerns seriously. IFC have agreed to meet with the involved CSOs to discuss these issues and explore additional options for resolving them in a way that is constructive and fair.
IFC has also stated that they believe the terminology in the public release documents (the SPI and other web documents) has been misunderstood. IFC has informed CAO that it did not mean to claim that Wilmar was already in compliance with the RSPO Principles and Critera, or that RSPO has certified Wilmar in any way. As of November 9, IFC has revised the language on the website to provide some clarification on this matter.
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