Europe Importing More Palm Oil for Biofuels, Raising Risks for Rainforests

by Rhett Butler (Mongabay.com) Palm oil imports into Europe for use as car fuel increased by more than three-fold since 2006, raising concerns than renewable fuels targets may be contributing to deforestation, displacing marginalized communities, and driving greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia, finds a new study published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
The report, published today, finds that 80 percent of the European Union's increase in palm oil consumption between 2006 and 2012 was due to increased use for biofuel production. Use in food and cosmetics remain almost flat during the period.
Overall palm oil consumption by the EU-27 jumped 41 percent from 4.51 million tons in 2006 to 6.38 million tons in 2012. Palm oil consumption for biodiesel surged 365 percent from 402,000 tons to 1.87 million tons.
The Netherlands, the largest palm oil consumer in Europe, saw its use of palm oil for biofuels spike 9500 percent from 5,000 tons to 480,000 tons over the period.
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Growing concerns over the environmental impact of palm oil has provoked an industry response. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a multistakeholder body that sets social and environmental criteria for palm oil production. It aims to create a "safe" label for palm oil sourced under the standard. Yet some environmental groups, including FOE Europe and Greenpeace, say the initiative is still too weak and call for buyers to demand more stringent safeguards for palm oil sourcing. Meanwhile some producers complain that the premium for certified palm oil is too small to justify the effort.
However, most palm oil is consumed in countries where consumers show little preference for environmental standards: Indonesia, India, China, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Therefore the direct impact of certification generally remains limited to "premium" markets like Europe and the United States, making the issue a difficult one to address for environmentalists, who are also challenged by the crop's productivity, which makes it both a cheap source of cooking oil and a profitable investment. READ MORE and MORE (International Institute for Sustainable Development)