Singled out: Oil palm cultivation uses a mere 0.3% of the world's five billion ha of agriculture land, yet the crop has been unfairly
targeted by NGOs as a cause of deforestation and global warming.

25/10/2014 (The Star) - On sustainability, there is an on-going battle whereby the NGOs are scrutinising oil palm producers on their land use for palm oil cultivation. What are the challenges expected for 2015?

Yusof: Out of the total 5 billion ha of agriculture land globally, oil palm is only using some 15 million ha. This represents less than 0.3% of the world’s total agriculture land. It is the sovereign right of Malaysia and Indonesia to develop our agriculture land. Even if we double the hectarage for oil palm, it is still not going to cause global warming or CO2 emission, compared to the 5 billion ha of global agriculture land. Therefore, it is wrong for NGOs to point the finger at oil palm producers for causing severe deforestation and global warming. In fact, the petroleum sector is the major cause of global warming and C02 emission while oil palm’s contribution is negligible. Oil palm producers are being harassed without any scientific evidence or justification. We have been singled out to be subjected to zero deforestation. Even the so-called RSPO original sustainable development policy has been hijacked to be framed under the zero deforestation slogan. To me, this attempt will affect the aspirations of developing nations for further development and hinder them from being progressive.But in the end, the truth will prevail as we have the supporting facts.

The FAO in its report says that there are 13 million ha of deforestation per year. This is in comparison with the total land use of about 15 million ha of planted oil palm globally which was developed over 100 years. Oil palm is not the cause of deforestation.

What is Malaysia’s stance on the RSPO?

Yusof: Malaysia has always been supportive of the RSPO. Our Government at one time even gave a grant to smallholders to adopt RSPO principles and criteria. But if RSPO certification continues to be expensive and unreachable to smallholders, I think it will be impossible for smallholders to undertake such heavy commitment.

Are palm oil producing members under the RSPO getting higher premium for their RSPO-certified palm oil?

Lee: Different plantation companies will have different experience in selling their RSPO-certified palm oil products. The RSPO certification is only good for those oil palm plantation companies with established access to the European market. However, it is limited and of little use for other plantation companies which export elsewhere (outside Europe) and in fact, there are many of them too.

What is the status on the national palm oil standard – the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)?

Yusof: It is still work in progress. The MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board) is currently running some pilot tests with subscribers of MSPO and will come out with the assessment. It is also not true to say the launch of MSPO nationwide has been delayed. Still, MSPO certification is on a voluntary basis, and the Government’s objective is to get full participation from the smallholders as well as the big plantation players.