Palm oil is sneaky. It is an ingredient that is ubiquitously found in so many products from chocolates to shampoos and soaps because its cheap and versatile but its wreaking havoc on ancient rainforests biodiversity and endangered wildlife habitats.
The rainforests in places like Borneo and Sumatra store 300 billion tons of carbon, which is approximately 40 times the annual greenhouse gases emissions from fossil fuels. These regions however are a hot spot to grow palm oil. Every hour 300 soccer fields of rainforests are removed to make palm oil plantations.
These rainforests and habitats of endangered wildlife are being destroyed faster than what can truly be considered sustainable. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature(IUCN), 193 different species are currently endangered or threatened because of the palm oil industry, including the orangutan, some species of Asian elephant, and the already endangered tiger.
There is a non-profit organization called the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) whose intention is to unify the seven sectors of the palm oil industry which includes the palm oil producers, traders, manufacturers, retailers, investors/bankers, environmental organizations, and social organizations to create a defined set of standards to produce sustainable palm oil while still being a lucrative industry. Unfortunately, it took the RSPO 14 years to ban its members from destroying rainforests and it has yet to enforce this ban.
In 2010, some of the major brands using palm oil promised to protect forests and clean up the palm oil industry by 2020. Those promises are yet to be seen.
Whether you are buying personal beauty products or food, please check the labels of the products you buy. Alternatives to the products that contain palm oil are available. These alternative products are generally less processed and contain less ingredients. Each time, we as consumers say no to palm oil, we are incentivizing companies to adopt more sustainable ways to produce the products we buy and use. It is like voting with our wallets.
Photo courtesy of Simone Millward via Unsplash
References:
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/issues/indonesian-forests-palm-oil/
https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil/questions-and-answers
https://www.greenmatters.com/p/does-sustainable-palm-oil-exist
https://www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/story/5-problems-with-sustainable-palm-oil/
