09/05/2022 (New Straits Times) - LETTERS: War in Europe, out-of-control inflation, food rationing, cooking oil shortages and empty shelves. We in Europe are living through a crisis that hasn't been seen since World War 2.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has triggered a global shortage of vegetable cooking oil because Ukraine, and by extension Russia, account for more than 70 per cent of sunflower oil production.

In 2020, Ukraine was also the second largest exporter of rapeseed oil after Canada. As the war cut off supplies from the world's biggest exporter of sunflower oil, the cost of alternatives rose.

While United Kingdom farmers warned of food shortages, supermarkets started to ration sunflower oil, prompting food manufacturers and buyers to panic.

A UK supermarket chain, renowned for its frozen food and virtuous pledges which it then repeatedly fails to deliver, had to reverse its ban on palm oil.

It's a tale as old as time: a corporation proudly signals its ethical purity, only to row back its decision when the practical consequences hit.

The absurdity is not confined to the supermarket chain; it is revealed in every high-street bank proclaiming "Be Kind".

Sadly, "do as I say not as I do" seems to be the defining attitude of both government and big business at the moment.

But the UK and Europe are ignoring the fact that nearly all imported palm oil from Malaysia is certified as sustainable, meaning there is no damage or impact to primary forest, natural habitats or local communities and cultures.

The truth is that 90 per cent of palm oil exported to Europe is certified as sustainable, and palm oil accounts for 3.8 per cent of total global deforestation.

In fact, deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea attributed to the development of oil palm plantations has fallen to its lowest levels since 2017.

The public has had enough of hypocrisy, be it from supermarkets, business people, politicians or celebrities.

It's time to stop the lecturing, and for businesses and politicians to stop pretending they are something they are not.

As sunflower oil vanishes from supermarket shelves, it's time for the UK to embrace palm oil and to forge new and renewed alliances with our friends in Malaysia.

TIM DAWSON

The United Kingdom

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2022/05/794579/time-uk-embrace-palm-oil