At our annual General Assembly, FONAP elected a new board and set the course for the coming year.
Our General Assembly, the most important decision-making body in the Forum for Sustainable Palm Oil, took place in Berlin on 25 April.
New FONAP board
At the premises of the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries (BVE), the members elected a new board for the next two years. With Almut Feller (Ferrero), Dr. Ulrich Hettinger (OVID), Armin Hodzic (BM Certification) and Sascha Tischer (TRUE ASSETS e.V.), four members of the old board were re-elected. Reza Azmi (Wild Asia) will contribute perspectives from Malaysia to the association’s work as a new board member.
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will continue to share a permanent seat on the board.
Insights from science and practice
One of the highlights of the day was the keynote speech by H.E. Arif Havas Oegroseno, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia. The ambassador gave deep insights into the progress his country has made in the fight against deforestation. He also spoke to the members about traceability and the implementation of the EU regulation for deforestation-free products (EUDR).
An exciting dialogue between science and practice followed in the afternoon. The experts Dr. Marie Diekmann (German Institute for Human Rights), Prof. Dr. Meike Wollni (University of Göttingen) and Sophie-Dorothe Lieke (University of Göttingen) shared their current research findings on the topics of human rights, biodiversity and communication in the palm oil sector. Building on this, the FONAP members developed possible links to the association’s work.
In their opening speeches, Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMZ (video message), and Bernt Farcke, Head of the Department for Forests, Sustainability and Renewable Resources at the BMEL, also provided impetus for the association’s work.
