Financial Times (17/02/2020) Teresa Kok’sbeyondbrics post “Britain could seal Asian trade deal by adopting a fresh attitude to palm oil” (February 11) rightly challenges Europe’s one-dimensional attitude to palm oil. Governments in south-east Asia, which produces 84 per cent of the world’s palm oil, have taken active steps to prevent deforestation and encouraged certification of palm oil that is grown sustainably.

MsKok rightly emphasises the dramatic increase in land needed for agriculture that would be needed if palm oil were taken out of the food chain, and the devastating effect this would also have on the many millions of people who rely on the crop for food and to make a living. Palm oil produces 40 per cent of the world’s vegetable oil on only 8 per cent of the area devoted to vegetable oil cultivation.

 Given the large number of countries in which palm oil is both produced and consumed, the most effective way to promote sustainable palm oil is through a global standard. In fact, the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) provides just such a standard, endorsed by a diverse membership including environmental and social pressure groups, retailers, food processors, traders and palm-oil growers. Strong support for this standard through a commitment to enforce it and improve it is one way in which countries, non-governmental organisations and business can promote sustainable palm oil.

Currently, some 20 per cent of the world’s palm oil is produced sustainably to RSPO standards, but despite the low price premium it commands, only half of this is bought because it is sustainably produced, so propping up the market for unsustainable palm oil. To accelerate the pace of change, consumers must now exercise their power to insist that the products they buy contain sustainable palm oil.

Read more at https://www.ft.com/content/560d0030-4e5a-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5