ICC Secretariat was invited and attended the Roundtable on Sustainable Coconut conducted by Sustainable Coconut Partnership, at Lafite Room, Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, on March 8th, 2023. The theme was “Investing in the Future of Coconuts: A First Look into a New Kind of Industry Sustainability Platform”. Representatives of ICC were Mr. Alit Pirmansah, Marketing and Statistic Officer, and Mr. Otniel Sintoro, Information and Publication Officer.
The objective of the meeting was to hear ICC’s and other stakeholders’ inputs on the transformation of the industry-led Roundtable Meeting series and exchange further about mutually beneficial collaboration with ICC. The event was also marking the occasion of the Sustainable Coconut Partnership soft launch, a global sustainability platform in the commodities space, and a global multi-stakeholder consultation with inputs from more than 100 industry organizations and civil society groups. It aims to solve a generational challenge of livelihood and sustainability for millions of coconut farmers.
The platform brought together over 80 buyers, processors and other actors actively involved in coconut supply chains representing more than 40% of the industry to collaboratively find solutions and share investment approaches in establishing cost-effective sustainable coconut value chains and supporting farmers' livelihoods.
The panelists of the discussion were Mr. Jass Khaw, Global Sustainability Lead, Tropical Oils, AAK; Ms. Jessica Wettstein, Sustainability Sourcing Manager, APAC; Barry Callebaut; Mr. Ayyamani VJ Jagadish, Agronomist expert in coconut and cocoa; Datuk Darrel Weber, ex CEO of RSPO and sustainability board advisor/chairman/trustee. The moderator of the discussion was Mr. Gregory Bardies, Executive Director, Sustainable Coconut Partnership.
The discussion followed by a Q& A Session in which panelists addressed questions by the audience. The conclusion and closing statement was addressed by Mr. Nicolas Ronderos, Collaboration Director, Sustainable Partnership/Associate Director, Collaboration, BSR. The meeting ended with a networking reception where all participants could elaborate on further collaboration among themselves.
