06/12/2012 (Avaaz Daily Briefing) - Palm oil, one of the most ecologically destructive products on the planet, has just been labelled sustainable by the European Union. The decision, handed down by the European Commission, was decried by environmental groups who have linked palm oil production and massive deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Under the new rules, palm oil will be considered part of Europe's renewable fuels mix – meaning production will qualify for subsidies and count towards the EU's renewable energy targets. The new scheme was pushed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a coalition of industry groups.

The EU hopes that palm oil will help reduce carbon emissions – but the commission's own studies have found that palm oil has the highest emissions of any biofuel if full carbon accounting is used. Robbie Blake from Friends of the Earth Europe explains: "Palm oil is driving deforestation, wildlife loss, community conflicts, and accelerating climate change. Instead of greenwashing palm oil, the EU should outright ban its use as a biofuel."

To fight climate change effectively, we'll need a number of alternatives to our current fossil fuel dependence. But cutting down forests to produce biofuels is absolutely the wrong way to move forward.