EU urged to press for more 'sustainable' production of palm oil

The EU has been urged to help shift production of palm oil in a more "sustainable direction".

Speaking on Tuesday at an event jointly organised by the Parliament Magazine, Imke Lübbeke, of the WWF, said that the environmental impact of oil palm had "not been exaggerated".

Lübbeke, the organisation's EU bio-energy policy officer, said there was "increasing evidence" that oil palm production was directly responsible for a 12 per cent reduction in the "number, variety and abundance" of wildlife in Malaysia, the world's second biggest producer of palm oil.

She added, "WWF is not against palm oil which is a very valuable vegetable oil.

"It has unique characteristics that suit it to processed foods and other consumer goods like detergents and soaps.

"We support palm oil as long as it produced sustainably."

The lunchtime roundtable, jointly organised with the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, focused on the sustainability of palm oil production, currently a controversial issue among MEPs and policymakers.

It also heard from Danish Independent MEP Anna Rosbach that palm oil has been used in "many industries" for years and is a "healthy" oil.

She told the meeting, "This issue has two parallel sides: On the one hand we have the big international companies cutting down rainforests, draining and burning swamp forests and destroying biodiversity.

"On the other hand, we have all the beneficial sides of palm oil both for use in food, fuel and for its contribution to the economy."

Rosbach, an ECR member, said that Asian countries, such as Malaysia, should not be blamed for the "devastation" she said is often caused by palm oil production.

"If we look at Africa, we see that many European companies are behind the fast-growing plantations," she added.

"We should remember that many of the environmental concerns surrounding palm oil production are the same that we see with all kinds of large scale and intensive agricultural productions."

In a Q&A session, British Tory MEP and environment committee member Martin Callanan, who chaired the debate, asked whether deforestation was still taking place even though the Malaysian government had designated all its virgin rain forests as protected areas.

In reply, Nagendran Bala Sundra, a minister counsellor at the Malaysian EU embassy in Brussels, made a robust defence of his country's record when it comes to the environmental impact of palm oil production.

He said, "We recognised that our forests are not finite and a lot of effort has been invested into tackling this issue. This is something that has not always been recognised."

He also emphasised the importance of the palm oil industry to his country's economy.

He said the sector was "one of the most heavily regulated" industries in the world and that palm oil production contributes "significantly" to global food security.

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