Body Shop unveils sustainable palm oil plans

The Body Shop has become the first cosmetics retailer to introduce sustainable palm oil into the global beauty industry.

Palm oil, as one of the world's most popular vegetable oils, is already used in countless everyday items including cosmetics, household products and foods. Its popularity has resulted in the rapid destruction of rainforests, due to irresponsible production.

The Body Shop is working in partnership with Daabon, a certified organic producer in Colombia, which works extensively with local cooperatives, to implement sustainable production of palm oil.

This move will equate to 14.5 million bars of sustainable soap sold per annum, across 57 countries.

Peter Saunders, The Body Shop’s CEO said: ‘Our ambition is for the majority of the world's palm oil production to be sustainable within the next two to three years but this will not be achieved by The Body Shop in isolation - our decision must inspire other businesses to join us and tackle the problem head on.’

It hopes more retailers will begin sourcing RSPO certified sustainable palm oil as soon as it becomes available later this year.