This study examines the effectiveness of Multistakeholder Initiatives (MSIs), specifically the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), in addressing human rights violations and environmental harm in the Brazilian Amazon. Findings reveal persistent issues, such as land dispossession and environmental degradation. Drawing from longitudinal qualitative research, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of legal cases and corporate reports, and remote sensing analysis, this paper exposes how RSPO certification functions more as a tool for greenwashing than a means to achieve meaningful corporate accountability. Corporate sustainability reports systematically omit key labor and environmental violations, while MSIs fail to enforce compliance, thereby reinforcing extractive industry practices. By situating these findings within theories of neoliberal governance, the paper argues that MSIs primarily serve corporate interests rather than protecting vulnerable communities or ecosystems. The study contributes to discussions on the limitations of voluntary certification and calls for community-led environmental monitoring as more effective regulation.
Este estudo examina a eficácia das Iniciativas Multissetoriais (MSIs), especificamente a Mesa Redonda sobre Óleo de Palma Sustentável (RSPO), no enfrentamento de violações de direitos humanos e danos ambientais na Amazônia brasileira. Os resultados revelam problemas persistentes, como desapropriação de terras e degradação ambiental. Com base em pesquisa qualitativa longitudinal (2003 e 2017), Análise Crítica do Discurso (ADC) de casos jurídicos e relatórios corporativos e análise de sensoriamento remoto, este artigo expõe como a certificação RSPO funciona mais como uma ferramenta para greenwashing do que para responsabilização corporativa significativa. Relatórios de sustentabilidade corporativa omitem sistematicamente violações trabalhistas e ambientais importantes, enquanto as MSIs falham em garantir o cumprimento das normas, reforçando, assim, as práticas da indústria extrativa. Ao situar esses resultados em teorias de governança neoliberal, o artigo argumenta que as MSIs atendem principalmente aos interesses corporativos, em vez de proteger comunidades ou ecossistemas vulneráveis. O estudo contribui para as discussões sobre as limitações da certificação voluntária e defende o monitoramento ambiental liderado pela comunidade como uma regulamentação mais eficaz.
AllenPatriciaGuthmanJulie2006 “From ‘old school’ to ‘farm-to-school’: Neoliberalization from the ground up.” Agriculture and Human Values23 (April): 401–415.
2.
AmigoIgnacio2020 “When will the Amazon hit a tipping point?” Nature578 (7796): 505–507.
3.
BackhouseMaria2013 “A despropriação sustentável da Amazônia: O caso de investimentos em dendê no Pará, Fair Fuels?” Working Paper 6, Berlin.
4.
BackhouseMariaLehmannRosa2020 “New 'renewable' frontiers: Contested palm oil plantations and wind energy projects in Brazil and Mexico.” Journal of Land Use Science15: 373–388.
5.
BanerjeeBobby2003 “Who sustains whose development? Sustainable development and the reinvention of nature.” Organization Studies24 (1): 143–180.
BarlowJosBerenguerErikaCarmentaRachelFrançaFelipe2019 “Clarifying Amazonia’s burning crisis.” Global Change Biology26 (2): 319–321.
8.
BernsteinStevenCashoreBenjamin2004 “Nonstate global governance: Is forest certification a legitimate alternative to a global forest convention?” pp. 33–64 in KirtonJ.TrebilcockM.J. (eds.), Hard Choices, Soft Law: Voluntary Standards in Global Trade. London: Routledge.
9.
BiermannFrankHickmannThomasSénitCaroline-Anne, et al. 2023 “Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals.” Nature Sustainability5: 795–800.
10.
BoiralOlivier2007 “Corporate greening through ISO 14001: A rational myth?” Organization Science18: 127–146.
11.
Borras JuniorSaturninoFrancoJennifer2011 “Global land grabbing and trajectories of agrarian change: A preliminary analysis.” Journal Of Agrarian Change12 (1): 34–59.
12.
BrandãoFredericoSchoneveldGeorge2015The State of Oil Palm Development in the Brazilian Amazon: Trends, Value Chain Dynamics and Business Models. Bogor, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
13.
CafaggiFabrizio2011 “New foundations of transnational private regulation.” Journal of Law and Society38: 20–49.
14.
CashoreBenjamin2002 “Legitimacy and the privatization of environmental governance: How non-state market driven systems gain rule-making authority.” Governance15 (4): 508–529.
15.
ChagnonChristopherDuranteFrancescoGillsBarryHagolani-AlbovSophiaHokkanenSaanaKangasluomaSohviKonttinenHeidiKrögerMarkusLaFleurWilliamOllinahoOssiVuolaMarketta2022 “From extractivism to global extractivism: the evolution of an organizing concept.” The Journal of Peasant Studies49 (4): 760–792.
16.
CheynsEmauelleRiisgaardLone2012 “Introduction to the symposium: The exercise of power through multi-stakeholder initiatives for sustainable agriculture and its inclusion and exclusion outcomes.” Agriculture and Human Values31 (3): 409–423.
17.
CostaDiego MendonçaRavenaNirvia2024 “Território e subsistência de povos tradicionais frente à expansão da cadeia global de valor do óleo de palma: Os casos de tailândia e tomé-açu (PA).” Novos Cadernos NAEA27 (3).
18.
DamianiSandraMontalvãoMaria Tereza LeiteMendesRosivaldo de Alcântarada CostaAmilton César GomesPassosCarlos José Sousa2023 “Water and sediment pesticide contamination on indigenous lands surrounded by oil palm plantations in the Brazilian Amazon.” Heliyon9 (10).
19.
De VriesGerdienTerwelBartEllemersNaomiDaamenDancker2013 “Sustainability or profitability? How communicated motives for environmental policy affect public perceptions of corporate greenwashing.” Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management22 (3): 142–154.
20.
DelmasMagaliBurbanoVanessa Cueral2011 “The drivers of greenwashing.” California Management Review54 (1): 64–87.
21.
DjelicMarie LaureQuackSigrid2008 “Institutions and transnationalisation,” pp. 299–323 in GreenwoodR.OliverC.SuddabyR.Sahlin-AnderssonK (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publishing.
22.
FaircloughNorman1992Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
23.
FaircloughNorman2005 “Discourse analysis in organization studies: The case for critical realism.” Organization Studies26 (6): 915–939.
24.
FerreiraVanilda AraujoSantanaAntonio CordeiroRavenaNirviaOliveiraCyntia Meireles2016 “Os fatores de repercussão da cadeia produtiva do dendê no desenvolvimento local do Baixo Tocantins.” Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente39.
25.
FurumoPaul RichardAideMitchell2017 “Characterizing commercial oil palm expansion in Latin America: Land use change and trade.” Environmental Research Letters12 (2):
26.
GermerJornSauerbornJoachim2008 “Estimation of the impact of oil palm plantation establishment on greenhouse gas balance.” Environment, Development and Sustainability10: 697–716.
27.
GrazJean ChristopheNölkeAndreas2008Transnational Private Governance and its Limits. London: Routledge.
28.
GudynasEduardo2018 “Extractivisms: Tendencies and consequences,” pp. 61–76 in MunckRonaldoWiseRaúl Delgado (eds.), Reframing Latin American Development. Routledge Critical Development Studies. London: Routledge.
29.
GuthmanJulie2007 “The Polanyian way? Voluntary food labels as neoliberal governance.” Antipode9(3), 456–478.
30.
Gutiérrez-VélezVictorDefriesRuthPinedo-VasquezMiguelUriarteMaríaPadochChristineBaethgenWalterFernandesKatiaYiliYili2011 “High-yield oil palm expansion spares land at the expense of forests in the Peruvian Amazon.” Environmental Research Letters6 (4).
31.
HainesFionaMacdonaldKate2019”Grappling with injustice: Corporate crime, multinational business and interrogation of law in context.” Theoretical Criminology25 (2).
32.
HechtSusanna2005 “Soybeans, development and conservation on the Amazon frontier.” Development and Change36 (2).
33.
HofmannJeanette2020 “The multistakeholder concept as narrative: A discourse analytical approach,” pp. 253–268 in DeNardisLauraCogburnDerrickLevinsonNanette S.MusianiFrancesca (eds.), Researching Internet Governance: Methods, Frameworks, Futures. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
34.
JanksHilary2012 “The importance of critical literacy.” English Teaching: Practice and Critique11 (1): 150–163.
35.
JordanaJacintLevi-FaurDavi2004. “The politics of regulation in the age of governance,” pp. 1–28 in JordanaJ.Levi-FaurD. (eds.), The Politics of Regulation: Institutions and Regulatory Reforms for the Age of Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
36.
KhatunRhaimaRezaMohammad Iman HasanMoniruzzamanMuhammadYaakobZahira2017 “Sustainable oil palm industry: The possibilities.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews76: 608–619.
37.
KöhneMichiel2014 “Multi-stakeholder initiative governance as assemblage: Roundtable on sustainable palm oil as a political resource in land conflicts related to oil palm plantations.” Agriculture and Human Values31 (3): 469–480.
38.
KrenakAilton2020Ideas to Postpone the End of the World. Toronto, Canada: House of Anansi Press.
39.
LevyDavidEganDaniel2003 “A neo-Gramscian approach to corporate political strategy: Conflict and accommodation in the climate change negotiations.” Journal of Management Studies40 (4): 803–829.
40.
LyonThomasMontgomeryWren2015 “The means and end of greenwash.” Organization and Environment28 (2): 223–249.
41.
MarquisChristopherToffelMichaelZhouYanhua2016 “Scrutiny, norms, and selective disclosure: A global study of greenwashing.” Organization Science27 (2) 483–504.
42.
MataveliGuilhermeChavesMichelBrunsellNathanielAragãoLuiz2021 “The emergence of a new deforestation hotspot in Amazonia.” Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation19 (1) 33–36.
43.
MazzucattoMariana2020O valor de tudo. Produção e apropriação na economia global. São Paulo: Portfolio-Penguin.
44.
McKayBenAlonso-FradejasAlbertoEzquerro-CañeteArturo2021Agrarian Extractivism in Latin America. London: Routledge.
45.
MeijaardErikMorgansCourtneyMsiHusnayaenAbramNicola KarenAncrenazMarc2017 “An impact analysis of RSPO certification on Borneo forest cover and orangutan populations.” Pongo Alliance3 (2): 55–65.
46.
MeyerJohnRowanBrian1977 “Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony.” American Journal of Sociology83 (2): 340–363.
47.
MobergMark2014 “Certification and neoliberal governance: Moral economies of fair trade in the Eastern Caribbean.” American Anthropologist116 (1): 8–22.
48.
MoogSandraSpicerAndreBöhmSteffen2014 “The politics of multi-stakeholder initiatives: The crisis of the Forest Stewardship Council.” Journal of Business Ethics128 (3): 469–493.
49.
NguyenThi Thu HuongYangZhiNguyenNinhJohnsonLesterCaoTuan Khanh2019. “Greenwash and green purchase intention: The mediating role of green skepticism.” Sustainability11 (9).
50.
NyilasyGregGangadharbatlaHarshaPaladinoAngela2013 “Perceived greenwashing: The interactive effects of green advertising and corporate environmental performance on consumer reactions.” Journal of Business Ethics125 (4): 693–707.
51.
ObidzinskiKrystofAndrianiRubetaKomarudinHeruAndriantoAgus2017 “Environmental and social impacts of oil palm plantations and their implications for biofuel production in Indonesia.” Ecology and Society17 (1): 481–499.
52.
OstfeldRosemaryHowarthDavidReinerDavidKrasnyPawel2019 “Peeling back the label exploring sustainable palm oil ecolabelling and consumption in the United Kingdom.” Environmental Research Letters14 (1).
53.
PagottoErico LucianoCarvalhoMarcos Bernardino2020 “Natureza à venda: Da ecopornografia a um modelo compreensivo de indicadores de greenwashing.” Scripta Nova: Revista Electronica de Geografia y Ciencias Sociales24 (631): 01–31.
54.
PeltzmanSam1976 “Toward a more general theory of regulation.” Journal of Law and Economics19 (2): 211–240.
55.
PeltzmanSam2022 “The theory of economic regulation after 50 years.” Public Choice193: 7–21.
56.
PlehweDieter2010 “The making of a comprehensive transnational discourse community,” pp. 305–326 in DjelicM. L.Sahlin-AnderssonK. (eds.), Transnational Communities, Shaping Global Economic Governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
57.
PolanyiKarl1944The Great Transformation: Economic and Political Origins of Our Time. New York: Rinehart.
58.
PyeOliver2016 “Deconstructing the roundtable on sustainable palm oil,” pp. 409–42 in CrambR.McCarthyJ. (eds.), The Oil Palm Complex: Smallholders, Agribusiness and the State in Indonesia and Malaysia. Singapore: NUS Press.
59.
RajãoRaoniSoares-FilhoBritaldoNunesFelipeBörnerJanMachadoLilianAssisDeboraFigueiraDanilo2020 “The rotten apples of Brazil’s agribusiness.” Science369 (6501): 246–248.
60.
RamankuttyNavinGraesserJordan2017 “Latin American oil palm follows an unfamiliar route to avoid deforestation.” Environmental Research Letters12 (4).
61.
RascheAndreasGwozdzWenckeLarsenMathias LundMoonJeremy2018 “What firms leave multi-stakeholder initiatives? An analysis of delistings from the UN Global Compact.” Paper presented at The Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago.
62.
RavenaNirviaCardozoPedro PabloMarinRosa Elizabeth AcevedoMoreiraFernanda Silva Andrade2020 “A cadeia de alimentos na Amazônia: A quem serve a certificação?” pp. 193–213 in Alfredo, Wagner Berno Almeida, Rosa Elizabeth. Acevedo Marín, and Jesus Afonso Flórez López (eds.), Territorio, cultura y pueblos: Megaproyetos, actos de estado, pueblos y comunidades tradicionales. Cali, Colombia: Programa Editorial Universidad Autonoma Occidente.
63.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil2018 “Impacts and Evaluation Division”
64.
SilvaElielson Pereira2020 “Topografias da morte: megaempreendimentos econômicos em territórios etnicamente configurados do Baixo Tocantins.” LASA 2020: Améfrica Ladina: vinculando mundos y saberes, tejiendo esperanzas.
65.
SilvaElienson PereiraMagalhãesSonia BarbosaFariasAndre Luis Assunção2016 “Monocultivos de dendezeiros, capital transnacional e concentração de terras na Amazônia Paraense.” Campo Território: Revista de geografia agrária11: 165–195.
66.
Silva-CastañedaLauraTrussartNathalie2016 “Sustainability standards and certification: Looking through the lens of Foucault’s dispositif.” Global Networks16 (4): 490–510.
67.
Silva-CastañedaLaura2012 “A forest of evidence: Third-party certification and multiple forms of proof a case study of oil palm plantations in Indonesia.” Agriculture and Human Values29 (3): 361–370.
68.
Silva-CastañedaLaura2015 “What kind of space? Multi-stakeholder initiatives and the protection of land rights.” International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food22 (2): 67–83.
69.
StiglerGeorge1971 “The theory of economic regulation.” Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science2: 3–21.
70.
TixiliskiGiacomo Otavio2022 “Entre boiadas e monoculturas: o processo de land grabbing no Brasil do século XXI.” Revista IDeAS16: 1–22.
71.
TsingAnna Lowenhaupt2005Friction – An Ethnography of Global Connections. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
72.
UngarMark2017 “Prosecuting environmental crime: Latin America’s policy innovation.” Latin American Policy8 (1): 63–92.
73.
UttingPeter2015 “Corporate accountability, fair trade and multi-stakeholder regulation,” pp. 61–79 in RaynoldsLaura T.BennettElizabeth A. (eds.), Handbook of Research on Fair Trade. Edward Elgar Publishing.
