No Palm Oil - Self Declared is one of the declarations under the Ekko Score No Exploitation Standard.
Traders using the No Palm Oil declaration are promising that no palm oil or palm oil derivatives are used in their products. The Palm Oil industry is linked to major issues such as large scale deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty, animal species extinction and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as the land and forests must be cleared for the development of the oil palm plantations.
By choosing No Palm Oil products, you help to limit the uncontrolled clearing of rainforests for palm oil plantations and this includes the indiscriminate clearing, burning, bulldozing and killing of anything in the way of whoever is driving the next palm oil plantation. The destruction of these forests and everything in them is both an incredible toll on life & habitats as well as a driving a massive amounts of emissions.
No Palm Oil - Self Declared sits in the PALM OIL Family under the Societal Standard: No Exploitation of Ekko Score. One set of weighted Ekko Score points are gathered from each Family.
These are the claimable declarations & certifications under the Societal Standard: Multi Sector & Business. Please note that different certifications and declarations may be relevant to each category.
Yes, where the impact of the claim is similar. This is how it works.
IMPORTANTLY, SELF DECLARATIONS ARE GOVERNED BY CONSUMER LAW. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR BUSINESSES TO MAKE FALSE CLAIMS (INCLUDING IMPLIED CLAIMS IN A CONTEXT LIKE EKKO SCORE).
EVEN IF A PRODUCT HAS A FORMAL CERTIFICATION, THAT CERTIFICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ENTIRE INTEGRITY OF THE PRODUCT'S MAKE UP.
An example might be a Handmade, Australian, Certified Organic chocolate that contains Palm Oil. Under Ekko Score, this product would claim Certified Organic and would self declare: Zero Waste Production and Australian made, but could not claim the No Palm Oil declaration. This would mean a lower score under the No Exploitation Standard, making the inclusion of Palm Oil clear to potential consumers, without detracting from its other assets.
No product is perfect, but some products are definitely better than others. Ekko Score allows you to make the best decision you can, or to put it another way, the least worst decision. And to make that decision with the confidence of not being green washed. Find out more about how Ekko Score works.