Palm oil is everywhere. From the food on your table to cosmetics and biofuels, palm oil and the many ingredients derived from it have become staples in household products around the world, like lipstick, shampoo, and margarine. It’s the world’s most popular vegetable oil, and not without reason: the oil palm tree produces more oil per unit of land than other common vegetable oils, making it incredibly efficient. In foods, palm oil serves as a replacement ingredient for less-healthy trans fats, a switch that started in the early 2000s, and its chemical properties make it a reliable choice for both cooking and preservation.
The agricultural practices used to grow and harvest palm oil, however, can be unsustainable and harmful to the environment. This week, I’m learning about the effects of the palm oil industry and what actions you and I can take to make sure the best sustainable practices are being followed.
The Problem: Deforestation
Palm oil is derived from the oil palm tree, which occurs naturally in equatorial Africa and grows best in tropical climates. The tropics, incidentally, are the world’s most biodiverse region, meaning that they contain the widest variety of plant and animal species. Malaysia and Indonesia alone produce at least 85 percent of the world’s palm oil crop, and according to the World Wildlife Fund, they do so in areas containing the most biodiverse forests in the world.
The issue here is that, in order to start an oil palm plantation, native forests must be cleared. On the island of Borneo, for example, about 39 percent of deforestation was due to forest clearing by palm oil companies between 2000 and 2018. The island is split between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, and palm oil played the biggest role in deforestation on the Malaysian side.
Deforestation from oil palm plantations threatens the existence of many endangered tropical species. It’s estimated that only 15 percent of native animal species remain after the forest is cleared and an oil palm plantation is built. Species such as orangutans, elephants, and Sumatran tigers are particularly threatened by the palm oil industry; habitat loss is the primary factor, but these animals are also viewed as pests by oil palm plantations and are, on occasion, killed as a result.
Deforestation practices also harm human health and our efforts to mitigate climate change. Fire is frequently used for forest clearing, and the resulting smoke contributes to air pollution and carbon emissions. Furthermore, swampy areas known as peatlands are also drained and burned to make room for plantations. Peatlands store much more carbon than forests do, but the clearing process releases some of that carbon, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. If the peatlands aren’t restored to their original state, they continue to emit greenhouse gases for years afterward.
Oil palm plantations are also the source of numerous human rights abuses and reflect social and economic inequities. In some cases, indigenous and local groups have been forced off of their land to make way for oil palm crops. In Indonesia, plantation workers—especially women—have found themselves subject to exploitative employment practices: low pay, no benefits, and the added risk of chemical burns and various other injuries from polluted water and dangerous work.
Solutions: What can you do?
Despite its downsides, the fact remains that oil palm crops are a much more efficient use of land than any replacement vegetable oils. Palm oil continues to be an enormous industry, providing jobs to smallholder farmers and multinational corporations alike. Simply reducing your usage of palm oil may not have the desired benefits; luckily, there are other solutions.
- Support sustainability regulations: Malaysia has already announced efforts to limit the amount of land allocated to palm oil crops and protect its forest land reserves, while Indonesia has banned new oil palm plantations altogether. The European Union also recently announced a plan to completely ban palm oil in biofuels, although this move comes with both environmental and political controversy.
- Support nonprofits: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is one organization that aims to create worldwide standards for sustainably grown oil palm crops. Currently, the RSPO certifies 19 percent of the world’s palm oil; its requirements include clear land ownership for oil palm growers, no deforestation of primary forests, and no use of burning practices.
- Use sustainably-sourced palm oil: Certain large corporations, including Unilever and Nestlé, ensure that their palm oil is sustainably sourced. Look for companies whose palm oil products are certified sustainable by organizations like the RSPO or the Rainforest Alliance; the World Wildlife Fund, among others, provides a scorecard to help consumers make well-informed decisions. Apps like PalmSmart and the Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping Guide allow shoppers to scan product barcodes and learn whether a company uses sustainable palm oil.
- Eat less processed food: When it comes to food, palm oil is primarily found in prepackaged, processed foods. Making the switch to whole fruits and vegetables and preparing meals at home both serve as ways to reduce palm oil consumption—without replacing it with other vegetable oils.
For more on sustainable living and agriculture, check out these Novel Hand articles:
What You Wear is a Humanitarian Issue. Here’s Why. by Alexa
Sustainable Eating: Buying Locally, Veganism, and the Impact of Agriculture on the Environment by Elina
Regenerative Agriculture: Back to the Basics by Izzy Norman
Sustainable Development: What Is It, and Why Does It Matter? by Sydney Rehder
- A Dose of Climate Optimism from 2021 - January 20, 2022
- When It Comes To Climate Change, Language Matters. Here’s Why. - December 28, 2021
- The EPA Wants To Take A Few Years To Regulate PFAS. Here’s Why. - October 28, 2021