For nearly two decades, the palm oil industry has been defined by the idea of compliance.

As an industry, we have spent billions of dollars and countless man-hours defining sustainability. The No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation (NDPE) framework has served as a solid foundation, establishing the standards of integrity that have integrated the industry into the modern global supply chain.

But as we look toward the demands of the next century, a critical question emerges for every investor, buyer, and stakeholder in the agri-business sector. How do we look beyond compliance to unlock the full potential of our landscapes?

If we only focus on doing no harm, how do we address the biological degradation already present in our global landscapes? At SD Guthrie Berhad, the conclusion we have arrived at poses both a challenge and an opportunity.

From restoring soil health to building landscape resilience, this shift from meeting standards to active regeneration forms the core of our “Beyond Zero” framework.

“Beyond Zero”: The Strategic Pillar of Restoration

To understand the vision ahead, one must understand SD Guthrie’s “Beyond Zero” Framework. Not to be confused with typical marketing slogans, the framework serves as a comprehensive operational philosophy that recognises that “Net Zero” is merely a milestone on a much longer journey.

While “Beyond Zero” addresses everything from emissions to supply chains, the Restore pillar is where the move toward regeneration truly happens. Since our value is built on nature, we are in a unique position to go beyond simply ‘doing no harm.’ By focusing on restoration, we are actively bringing back nature and biodiversity within our operations.

At SD Guthrie, regenerative agriculture is about producing palm oil that preserves ecosystems, strengthens resilience, and uplifts livelihoods – safeguarding our soils and landscapes for future generations. Our approach is outcomes-driven, focusing on healthier soils, better yields, and stronger socio-economic wellbeing across our operations and the wider landscapes where we work. We achieve this by taking established agricultural practices and refining them, using smarter inputs, cutting emissions, and strengthening fair labour standards. By pushing our ambition further through innovation and rigorous monitoring, we ensure every action drives accountability and delivers measurable impact.

The Science of Soil: Restoring the Foundation

Regeneration is fundamentally about working with natural processes to restore the vitality of the land. One of the many indicators adopted to measure Regenerative Palm Oil is the measure of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). Traditional agriculture often treats soil as a simple medium to hold the plant while external inputs provide nutrition. At SD Guthrie, we are shifting this perspective. We view the soil as a living, breathing asset that is central to the health of our plantations.

Solving The Problem of Degraded Soil

Degraded soil lacks the microbial diversity and organic matter found in healthy landscapes. This results in heavy compaction, creating a tough, rubbery layer that prevents water and air from reaching the roots. This increases crop vulnerability, especially during the increasingly frequent droughts and floods caused by climate change.

At SD Guthrie, regeneration means taking our current Best Management Practices and innovating them further. We achieve this through a disciplined approach to land and crop health.

Through precision agriculture for smarter fertiliser use and massive biomass return, which includes Empty Fruit Bunches application and frond stacking, we can potentially restore and strengthen soil vitality. This approach brings together rigorous soil and water conservation, cover crops, minimal disturbance, and Integrated Pest Management using barn owls and beneficial plants. Supported by our high-yielding GenomeSelect® seeds, these integrated practices maximise the potential of our land, driving operational efficiency while advancing environmental responsibility. By maintaining the tenderness and porosity of the soil, we secure the long-term resilience of our yields, a technical edge that supports SD Guthrie’s commitment to regeneration.

Piloting at Scale

A global strategy only creates value once it’s put into practice. In 2025, SD Guthrie initiated a structured, five-year pilot (2025–2030) to test and refine our Regenerative Agriculture Framework in real-operating conditions.

We have selected two distinct landscapes to serve as our living laboratories, each representing unique environmental and operational challenges:

The Carey Island Landscape (Central East Region)

Covering over 5,041 hectares of planted area, this pilot is focused on refining the framework in high-productivity environments. Here, we are establishing baselines for key environmental indicators, developing the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that will eventually be scaled across our global operations.

The Tawau-Kunak Landscape (Sabah)

In partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature, Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia), this pilot covers approximately 13,000 hectares across five RSPO-certified SD Guthrie estates, including the Binuang Strategic Operating Unit. This landscape is critical because it represents the Implementation Paradox – the challenge of balancing high-yield production with the need for wildlife connectivity and biodiversity restoration.

Driving Change at Scale: The WWF-Malaysia Partnership

Managing a footprint of this size requires a careful balance between production and nature restoration. Our five-year partnership with WWF-Malaysia is a strategic effort to address this challenge. WWF works with organisations that have the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to addressing threats to nature. As a business with a significant impact on natural resources, we recognise our responsibility to be part of the solution. By combining our operational scale with their expertise, we are delivering measurable outcomes, such as wildlife corridors, that would not be possible independently. This partnership represents two leading organisations piloting approaches aimed at transforming the entire industry.

Wildlife Connectivity and “Reconnect Borneo”

As part of the Reconnect Borneo initiative, the intention is to actively restore ecological connectivity across Borneo by establishing a network of wildlife corridors that allow species to move safely between fragmented forest patches. This will consequently restore natural ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, and water filtration that a healthy plantation relies on.

Yield and Resilience: The Business Case for Investors

From an investment standpoint, the business case for regenerative agriculture is built on enhancing risk mitigation. While high-yield plantations are essential for global food security and shareholder value, long-term productivity is at risk if soil health is allowed to deplete. In an era of climate change, a depleted plantation can represent a significant long-term risk.

The Resilience Hypothesis

We believe that regenerative practices will create yield resilience. By investing in soil health today, we aim to reduce our reliance on expensive chemical inputs and increase our ability to withstand erratic weather patterns. Our goal is to demonstrate that a healthy ecosystem is the most effective safeguard against the rising costs and physical risks of a changing climate.

Market Differentiation

For downstream buyers, SD Guthrie delivers a clear, proven value proposition. Through our offering of RSPO Segregated (SG) palm oil, we have consistently helped customers address critical greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and secure verified sustainable solutions for their supply chains. Building on this foundation, we are now exploring the concept of Regenerative Palm Oil as an additional value-add, positioning our partners to support the reduction of Scope 3 emissions and future-proof their portfolios against stricter global regulations.

Data Integrity and Transparency

Guided by our “Beyond Zero” framework, we provide investors with measurable indicators, such as reductions in Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. This is complemented by robust traceability data from our sustainable supply chains to validate deforestation-free practices, reinforcing our commitment to data-backed performance. By providing this level of detail, we minimise ambiguity in data interpretation for our clients, supporting their own technical assessments and protecting them from the reputational risks of greenwashing.

Building a Regenerative Path

The key to our progress lies in combining better agricultural practices with a deep commitment to the people and communities who sustain our industry. By focusing on better practices, we deliver better outcomes, preserving nature and strengthening communities through regenerative palm oil.

Consistent palm oil production is the result of a meticulously designed landscape structure. This transformation is driven by our R&D teams, who are turning complex biological data into actionable estate management plans.

The true drivers of this progress are our frontline teams. From our estate managers and agronomists to our partners at WWF-Malaysia, it is their daily on-site dedication that translates complex data into tangible field results. Their expertise ensures the resilience of our Landscape Structure, safeguarding everything from soil microbiology to the integrity of our global supply chains.

Moving “Beyond Zero”

The industry is evolving. While compliance remains our essential foundation, we are now building on those standards to enter an era of active restoration.

At SD Guthrie, we are building a future that turns plantation potential into a lasting positive impact. Through our “Beyond Zero” framework, we are committed to three clear outcomes:

• Healthy Soils and Better Yields: Maintaining soil health to support resilient crop yields while promoting responsible agrochemical use.
• Positive Environmental Impacts: Supporting biodiversity and conservation, strengthening climate resilience, and improving water management to protect our natural resources.
• Improved Socio-Economic Impacts: Uplifting the lives and livelihoods of our farmers and their surrounding communities.

By focusing on these outcomes, we are building a future-ready company that delivers value to our shareholders, security to our buyers, and health to the planet.

The transition to regenerative palm oil is a collaborative journey. For more information on our “Beyond Zero” targets or to discuss partnership opportunities within our SD Guthrie framework, get in touch with our team or visit our website:
https://www.sdguthrie-international.com/our-impact/

Let’s unlock nature’s superpower together.