Reconsider your position on palm oil
The discussion about palm oil is hugely emotional and a flagship against deforestation. The rainforest, our green lung, is hugely affected by this mighty plant. Innocent Orang Utans are slaughtered and burned alive, in the name of the delicious palm oil destined to tickle our taste buds. Vicious, isn’t it?
Before I try to partly rehabilitate the plant and its liquid gold, let us agree on two essential facts:
The planet’s surface is limited and with it the soil to grow food on.
We all need high-quality fatty acids in our diets.
The problem: Palm oil is everywhere: Chocolate, Soap, dishwasher tabs and fuel. Almost every second product on the shelves contains palm oil.
Palm oil plantains are usually grown in huge forests; of oil palms. Monoculture for miles.
New plantations are cut into the forest every day, destroying irretrievable unique habitats.
It is obvious, something needs to change. But what?
“Boycott palm oil. Boycott companies using palm oil.”
These are common notions and trending on the internet. This is straight-forward. Oil palms replace rainforest, hence when palm oil is boycotted it is not used anymore and the rainforest is saved. Right?
Wrong. It goes like this: Oil palms replace rainforest. We replace oil palms because we are still greedy for high-quality vegetable oils. This replacement, say sunflower, will perform worse. What do I mean by that?
The oil yield per hectare is immense for palm oil compared to other oil plants. While the potential yield per hectare is estimated to be around 9t/ha (admittedly the currently observed average lies at 3.3 t/ha, but small plantations under good management have reported up to 12 t/ha of pure oil. [1]
Other popular oil plants, such as sunflower, rapeseed and soya, produce only between 0.5 and 2 t/ha of vegetable oil.
To replace a hectare of oil palms, one would need between 5 and 10 hectares of land.
If we were to abandon palm oil completely, we would need way more land and subsequently deforestation, to satisfy our thirst for oil.
See the mighty plant as a gift, be glad it exists: It delivers huge amounts of oil per hectare, AND the oil is of the highest quality, delicious, healthy, and has great characteristics for processing.
Way better than demonising the plant would be to start growing sustainable palm oil, guaranteeing high ecological and social standards. That would be a start, oh wait, it is already done.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), gave out its goal of 100% sustainable palm oil in Europe by 2020. [2]
How far have we got?
They have missed it by 15%. Still, 85% of the imported palm oil is sustainably grown, according to RSPO standards.
Still, this sounds good. But it is a European dream. Worldwide, sustainable palm oil is still the exception. Only 19% of the produced palm oil is certified sustainable and according to RSPO numbers, the total area under sustainable production has only increased by around 23% between 2014 and 2020.
What can I do?
Let’s wrap it up: Small steps lead to success. The RSPO has strengthened its standards and guarantees conversion- and deforestation-free palm oil. This means no primary rainforest is sacrificed for plantations. Organisations like WWF are satisfied and promote buying sustainable palm oil, rather than a complete boycott. [3]
Consumers can make a change, and it is great to be aware when shopping, but better than boycotting tasty chocolate (or soap) and hundreds of other products, it would be to make a positive impact, by buying sustainably produced palm oil products and letting the companies know it. Make the best of the gift, the majestic oil palm!
Want to dig deeper?
References:
[1] Yield gaps in oil palm: A quantitative review of contributing factors
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1161030116302131#fig0015
[2] eurt.rspo.org
[3] https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/8-things-know-about-palm-oil
Here are some starting points:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/palm-oil
https://rspo.org/impact
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sustainable-palm-oil-shopping/id671945416
