The aim is to promote sustainable cultivation methods for palm oil and thus limit environmental damage. The RSPO guidelines are designed to ensure that the fundamental rights of indigenous landowners, surrounding communities and workers are respected. Protected areas and rainforest areas must not be used for the cultivation of palm oil. Furthermore, the cultivation companies and palm oil mills must keep their environmental impact as low as possible.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was founded in 2004 on the initiative of WWF and Unilever. In addition to environmental protection associations and other non-governmental organisations, the Roundtable's members are primarily companies and institutions involved in the production and processing of palm oil.

The RSPO label is rarely found on products. The certification and the RSPO label are mainly important in the communication between palm oil producing and palm oil processing companies.