Sustainable Palm Oil Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT) was developed through the Business and Biodiversity Programme operated by Zoological Society of London (ZSL). ZSL is an international conservation charity working to create a world where wildlife thrives. SPOTT scores palm oil, tropical forestry, and natural rubber companies annually against over 100 sector-specific ESG indicators to benchmark their progress over time. By tracking transparency, SPOTT incentivises the implementation of corporate best practice.
SPOTT’s annual company assessment selection process takes into account:
- Scope and scale of operations (e.g. areas of land owned or leased, volumes processed, market capitalisation).
- Operations in priority landscapes.
- Allegations of unsustainable practices identified through media reports.
- Nominations by interested stakeholders, or companies volunteering themselves for assessment.
- Presence of a company website.
- Company already assessed on SPOTT under another commodity.
SPOTT’s technical advisory groups provide guidance on its development, including the design and function of the indicator frameworks and the selection of companies for assessment. SPOTT assessments follow three comprehensive frameworks of best practice indicators for palm oil, timber and pulp, and natural rubber companies. Each framework consists of detailed scoring criteria for more than 100 indicators divided across 10 categories. ZSL has developed the SPOTT indicators in collaboration with technical advisors to ensure they are closely aligned with related initiatives including the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
Companies do not report directly to ZSL to inform their SPOTT assessments. Instead, ZSL conducts thorough reviews of their publicly available reports and publications, before contacting each company with its draft assessment. This engagement process means that companies can respond to ZSL, make further public disclosures, and provide feedback ahead of the final review and publication on SPOTT.
Purpose:
SPOTT supports the financial sector and supply chain stakeholders to manage ESG risk through transparency assessments of soft commodity producers and traders.
SPOTT receives funding toward ZSL, through the following donors:
- Credit Suisse (2017-ongoing)
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- Generation Foundation (2014-15)
- The Good Energies Foundation
- Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI)
- The UK Government
