Palm Oil: The Issue

The issue of palm oil does not surround the palm oil itself but the current rate of deforestation, biodiversity loss and human rights violations in areas of Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea that comes from the expansion and development of new palm oil plantations. The deforestation is driving thousands of species to the brink of extinction, most notably the Orang-utan, through habitat loss.

In order to get a full picture of the Palm Oil Debate, we encourage you to follow the links at the end of this page to make a fully informed decision on what to do. If you have an opinion regarding this page, please let us know here.

Palm oil history

Palm oil has been around for decades but it's only recently been thrown under public scrutiny. It's used in foods (often labelled as 'vegetable oil') such as chocolates or spreads due to its nutritional benefits as it contains no trans-fats and only 50% saturated fat (trans-fats are known to contribute negatively to cholesterol). It's qualities as a surfacant means it is used widely in the cosmetic industry, and it can also be used as a biofuel, although as we will learn it is far from an environmental replacement to oil. Because of it's wide spread use globally, palm oil has become a huge industry even though it's an ingredient few of us are familiar with.

From the beginning of the 20^th century palm oil had mostly been grown only in South America where areas of rainforest had been cleared for the palm crop. However, since the 50's there has been a rising demand for palm oil as the healthy alternative in spreads and processed foods. The quick-growing crop with multiple uses in the market expanded quickly, and over the last few decades Indonesia, Malaysia and Papa New Guinea have destroyed swathes of it's pristine rainforest to make way for palm plantations. The companies farming the land also get the benefit of the logging sales from the forest felling beforehand, which encourages the use of forest land rather than other suitable farming land.

Why is it a problem?

The clearing of these forests contributes to global warming in a number of ways. The removal of trees slows the absorption of CO2 globally, the swampy peat filled soils release huge quantities of methane (a more potent GHG than CO2) as they dry out, and fires that are lit to clear the land also release CO2. Figures suggest this clearing in Indonesia alone may have contributed 15% of all anthropogenic (man made) GHG emissions. Read the study here.

Orang-utans are the face of the public Palm Oil Debate with good reason. These primary (untouched) rainforests contain huge amounts of biodiversity and rare species of plants and animals with the most highlighted being Orang-utans. The deforestation and destruction of this great ape's habitat means they have nowhere to go and is pushing them to the brink of extinction. Just ten years ago the estimated populations across Borneo and Sumatra were around 27,000; today it could be as low as 15,000. Sharing over 96% of our DNA, these close cousins are in dire need of help.

There is also the humanitarian issue. Plantations can be owned by individual farmers, but it's a similar story to our Pants To Poverty products, where debts are incurred by the farmer to the loaning body who helped set up his mill. He is then stuck in a cycle of debt and is always striving to meet the required quota of crop. In other cases, companies who set up the mill don't even hire local people so the villagers do not benefit from the mill at all. In addition, the chemicals and fertilisers added to the crops run off into the waterways killing fish and polluting drinking water for people downstream. With very little set up for the protection of these people's way of life and ownership of their land, it is easy for these big companies to abuse their rights.

Finally, as a consumer you can't be sure the product you are buying is palm-oil free because palm oil is allowed to be labelled simply as 'vegetable oil', so you don't have the choice to avoid purchasing products containing palm oil.

What has been done?

You may have heard of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which was set up in 2004. In the same way you can have products certified 'organic' or 'fairtrade', the RSPO gives it's certification to palm oil that has satisfied specific criteria relating to fair employment practices, deforestation of primary forest and conservation of current levels of biodiversity. A great idea in theory – producers could choose to use RSPO certified palm oil in their products and advertise this. Their consumers would then know that the palm oil in their favourite biscuits, for example, were not contributing negatively to the environment or people. Read more about the RSPO here where you can download the PDF of the conditions of the certificate and their FAQs.

However, there have been criticisms held by organisations such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth who argue that the RSPO does not deliver on it's promises and is a greenwashing tool.

90% of the members of the RSPO are corporations and palm oil industry bodies who have a huge voting power on the policies of the RSPO. These are people who may well be interested in sustainable palm oil, however they have the power to hold back any strong policies the RSPO may want to initiate if they believe it may stifle profitability or expansion.

The process of having a palm oil plant certified costs money, which is passed on to the producers. A higher price can be a deterrent for producers, so without adequate 'know how' from the consumer, producers are not as keen to invest in the higher cost.

RSPO regulations state sustainable and non-sustainable palm oils can be blended at the mill level and the product can still carry an Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) certificate. This can happen even if only a few percent of the blend is CSPO. With the price deterrent, there is a good chance blending oils will be tempting to many producers.
The regulations are often vague, lacking specific regulations.

Because of these concerns, it is hard to consider RSPO a significant enough player to put an end to this palm oil issue, however it has only been around since 2004 and is not fully developed. Do we ignore the RSPO certification because of it's criticisms and avoid those products, or do we support the fledgling organisation and by purchasing CSPO palm oil products and hope it will grow and develop into a stronger position? This is something only you can decide.

What can I do?

To tackle this global problem, the solution actually lies in YOUR actions as a consumer. Every time you purchase something from the supermarket you are essentially 'voting with your dollar'. You have the power to really make a difference in this global economy. Unfortunately as consumers we don't have the choice because the law states palm oil can be listed innocently under 'vegetable oil'. To be able to make an informed choice you can write to your MP and express your concerns regarding the palm oil issue and ask them what they are doing to make labelling of palm oil mandatory. Also, write to the manufacturers! Ask them if they use palm oil, if it is CSPO and if there isn't an alternative they can use.

An example of how calling on a specific manufacturer to change their ways is Nestlé: check out this article to read more information and watch the video below. It took only 8 weeks for Nestlé to change it's position on palm oil back in May 2010, so you really can make a difference.

When you do your research don't be surprised if you find palm oil in quite a few of your favourite items; it is estimated that 50% of packaged products on our shelves contain palm oil or palm oil derivatives.

So should we avoid buying all palm oil products? This is where it gets tough. Not only would it be incredibly difficult to boycott all palm oil products as it can still be listed as vegetable oil, by boycotting palm oil products indiscriminately we would be also damaging the plantations that are not contributing to current rates of deforestation, along with people's livelihoods. It is an argument that can be mirrored on Australia: are you going to boycott wheat from an aussie farmer in Queensland because the farmland he uses was once wild forest 150 years ago? There are palm oil plantations that have been in place for many decades in South East Asia and the same argument stands. Don't forget, it's not palm oil itself that is the baddie, it's the current rate of deforestation from new plantations.

Solutions

Millions of people rely on palm oil as a source of livelihood in these countries and not all palm oil production is contributing to current deforestation rates. However, a blanket ban on palm oil products will decrease the global market for palm oil and make the price drop, making new palm oil plantations less profitable and less attractive. If you want to avoid all palm oil products, look below for the list of ingredients palm oil can be named as. You can also find out what key products do or do not contain palm oil here.

Purchasing products certified by the RSPO is another alternative (although not without it's own criticisms) and you can find major Australian companies that have made a commitment to CSPO (certified sustainable palm oil) shown in the WWF scorecard which you can download here.

Write to your MP and manufacturers about what they are doing on this issue. Templates can be found here.

What to look for

General

Vegetable oil (if the food has a high saturated fat content)
Sodium Laureth Sulphate (can also be from coconut)
Sodium Lauryl Sulphates (can also be from ricinus oil)
Sodium dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS)
Palmate
Palm Oil Kernal
Palmitate

Palm oil in Cosmetics

Elaeis Guineensis
Glyceryl Stearate
Stearic Acid

Chemicals containing Palm Oil (can be found in Shampoos etc)

Steareth -2
Steareth -20
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (coconut and/or palm)
Hydrated palm glycerides
Sodium isostearoyl lactylaye (from vegetable stearic acid)
Cetyl palmitate & octyl palmitate (anything ending with palmitate).

Information sourced from Zoos Victoria: download it here.