CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Favorini-Csorba, Francesca Anne |
|---|---|
| Title | Private Environmental Governance Institutions in Sustainable Palm Oil: Opportunities for Retailer Participation, Environmental Outcomes, and Legitimacy |
| Summary | The rapid and steady growth of the palm oil industry has led to massive deforestationin Indonesia and Malaysia,threatening biodiversity and contributing to global climate change. Private environmental governance institutions (PEGIs) have been established to address these issues, namely, the Roundtable for Sustainable Development, and institutionalized collaborations between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and palm oil consumer companies (retailers and consumer goods manufacturers). I identify these institutions as a civil society institution, and private-private institutions, respectively. I have chosen retailers as the focal actors and therefore explore how these PEGIs differ in terms of the role that retailers play within them, their environmental impact, and their legitimacy. I conclude that retailers face challenges to effective participation within the RSPO, but that the institution has established an adequate (albeit not comprehensive) baseline environmental standard for the palm oil industry, and has an operating structure that establishes it as a legitimate organization. Within the private-private institutions, retailers are able to have a more direct impact on their supply network and the institutions are able to address more comprehensive environmental criteria. Due to a lack of transparency of the private-private institutions, it is difficult to evaluate their legitimacy according to the chosen criteria; however, this does not necessarily translate into a conclusion of their illegitimacy, but rather a failing of the criteria. Accordingly, I recommend that retailers collaborate with NGOs in order to most effectively impact the sustainable palm oil industry. |
| Supervisor | Aistara, Guntra |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/favorini-csorba_francesca.pdf |
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