Wild Asia - Talking Points: Palm Oil

Talking Points: Palm Oil

by Wild Asia

Talking Points is a new forum for our readers to discuss critical issues on the environment, society and development. This month, we tackle palm oil: destructive villain or vital cash crop. What do you think?

The Palm Oil Debate

Palm oil has a bad reputation. It has been accused of anything from the cause of climate change to being a bad food product. How much of it is actually true, and how much is just hot air? Most importantly, if the industry is as bad as some people say, is there hope for change?

We've decided to open the debate through Talking Points as we believe that it is only through open discussion that we can find solutions to our most pressing environmental and social concerns that plague our world today.

Here, we've summarised three main viewpoints:

Viewpoint A Viewpoint B Viewpoint C

The palm oil industry is necessary for economic development. As one of the main income earners for many developing countries, it should be supported. Oil palm cultivation is destructive for the environment, wildlife and indigenous peoples. It should be gradually phased out. Oil palm cultivation is here to stay and we should engage its stakeholders. It can be made to be less damaging to the environment and can co-exist with wildlife and people.

Palm oil is one of the main income earners for developing countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Colombia. It is helping these countries reduce poverty.

The forest in which orang-utans live on are being burned down to give way for oil palm plantations and the numbers of orang-utans are dwindling.
The palm oil industry is not going away. It is the mainstay of many developing economies. What we must do is to engage the industry players and educate them to practice sustainable agriculture.

Poverty reduction can help reduce green house emissions. Poverty forces people to exploit the environment in harmful ways, for example, clearing forests for agriculture.
Oil palm expansion in Borneo has caused land conflict with indigenous peoples who co-exist with the forest.
The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has established a recognizable set of values that can be practiced. It sets an international standard for plantations to produce palm oil in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner.

The Bali Mandate requires that climate change strategies should support economic development. The palm oil industry is helping economies develop.
A study by the German government found that the oil palm trees are actually responsible for accelerating climate change. The production of palm oil releases much more CO2 than could be saved by the oil in the form of 'biodiesel'. Furthermore, monocultures dramatically reduces biodiversity.
Oil palm plantation managers can employ consultants to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment of oil palm cultivation prior to any planting, ensuring there is minimal environmental damage in its land utilization.

Palm oil is contributing to sustainable fuel in the form of biodiesel.
Environmental groups argue that Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil is riddled with loopholes and accused RSPO and WWF which is a member of the roundtable of greenwashing. Greenpeace maintains that RSPO does not adequately address ecological and social issues.

Consumers and palm oil buyers can play a role in ensuring the suppliers are getting from producers who are RSPO certified. This will put pressure on those who have not yet changed their operations to be more environmentally and socially responsible.

Viewpoint A	Viewpoint B	Viewpoint C
The palm oil industry is necessary for economic development. As one of the main income earners for many developing countries, it should be supported.	Oil palm cultivation is destructive for the environment, wildlife and indigenous peoples. It should be gradually phased out.	Oil palm cultivation is here to stay and we should engage its stakeholders. It can be made to be less damaging to the environment and can co-exist with wildlife and people.
Palm oil is one of the main income earners for developing countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Colombia. It is helping these countries reduce poverty.	The forest in which orang-utans live on are being burned down to give way for oil palm plantations and the numbers of orang-utans are dwindling.	The palm oil industry is not going away. It is the mainstay of many developing economies. What we must do is to engage the industry players and educate them to practice sustainable agriculture.
Poverty reduction can help reduce green house emissions. Poverty forces people to exploit the environment in harmful ways, for example, clearing forests for agriculture.	Oil palm expansion in Borneo has caused land conflict with indigenous peoples who co-exist with the forest.	The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has established a recognizable set of values that can be practiced. It sets an international standard for plantations to produce palm oil in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner.
The Bali Mandate requires that climate change strategies should support economic development. The palm oil industry is helping economies develop.	A study by the German government found that the oil palm trees are actually responsible for accelerating climate change. The production of palm oil releases much more CO2 than could be saved by the oil in the form of 'biodiesel'. Furthermore, monocultures dramatically reduces biodiversity.	Oil palm plantation managers can employ consultants to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment of oil palm cultivation prior to any planting, ensuring there is minimal environmental damage in its land utilization.
Palm oil is contributing to sustainable fuel in the form of biodiesel.	Environmental groups argue that Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil is riddled with loopholes and accused RSPO and WWF which is a member of the roundtable of greenwashing. Greenpeace maintains that RSPO does not adequately address ecological and social issues.	Consumers and palm oil buyers can play a role in ensuring the suppliers are getting from producers who are RSPO certified. This will put pressure on those who have not yet changed their operations to be more environmentally and socially responsible.

What do you think?

We would love to read your comments!

Sources

Deforestation Watch, UNCTAD, Ideas for a Cooler World, Mongabay.com, World Growth, Palm Oil Blog, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Malaysian Insider, Food Navigator, Wild Asia

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Original URL: http://www.wildasia.org/main.cfm/library/Talking_Points_-_Palm_Oil

Published: 28 January 2010