Palm oil has been the target of relentless attacks by environmental NGOs, due to its association with deforestation and human rights issues in developing countries. However, a lesser-known fact is that palm oil has the capability to combat climate change.

 

As the most productive oil crop in the world, palm oil is six times more productive than canola and 10 times more productive than soybean. This means that it takes 10 times more land for soybean to produce the same amount of oil as palm. Moreover, palm oil farming can be made sustainable, with about 19 percent of palm production already considered sustainable.

Over 85 percent of the global supply comes from 17 million hectares in Malaysia and Indonesia.

If we look at oil production alone, 10 hectares of soybean farms in the U.S. or Europe can be converted back to the forest that it once was for every hectare of forest in Malaysia or Indonesia that was converted to a palm oil farm.

Not only would this be a very effective way to maintain oil production, it would also aid at fighting global warming by increasing carbon sequestration in the newly created forests in the U.S., Germany, France and England, while providing much-needed sanctuaries to the people of these countries.

“Palm is a tree that can live up to 25 years to create and maintain a diverse ecosystem,” said Kwangyul Peck, chief sustainability officer at Korindo Group, an Indonesian-South Korean palm oil giant. “Using a harvest cycle, oil palm farming can be made sustainable. About 19 percent of palm production is already sustainable. Palm oil farm replaces one form of forest with another.”

In terms of carbon sequestration, palm forests can sequester 4 tons to 5 tons of carbon per hectare per year, which is 15 tons to 20 tons of carbon dioxide and some 400 tons to 500 tons of total accumulation in a 25-year period. This is similar to the annual carbon sequestration of rainforests, according to Robert Mendelsohn of Yale University. In contrast, rapeseed, sunflowers or soybeans planted in temperate regions of the U.S. and Europe have a carbon sequestration capacity of 0, Peck said.

“Furthermore, there are virtually 0 possibilities for fire, natural or otherwise, that are rampant in natural forests, for palm oil farms are well equipped with fire extinguishing infrastructure and personnel, whereas natural forests are vulnerable to both wildfire and illegal burning,” Peck said.

Heather Keith, Brendan G. Mackey and David B. Lindenmayer of the Australian National University published that there is more carbon stock in temperate forests than in tropical ones. This means soybean farmland in the U.S., England, Germany and France can sequestrate more carbon if converted back to forests than the carbon lost when Malaysian and Indonesian forests were converted to oil palm farms.

While some argue that palm oil production contributes to deforestation and loss of biodiversity, conservation scientists like Edgar Turner of the University of Cambridge argue that finding a way to protect species while satisfying the world’s demand for palm oil is a vital conservation priority. Instead of urging a ban, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) calls for discouraging the use of unsustainable palm oil. The IUCN also argues that banning palm oil, according to its 2018 report, would possibly worsen the problem. For the banning would only displace palm cultivation to other parts of the globe, such as Africa and South America, where policing and monitoring are less effective.

“It is a misconception in the West that people in remote regions do not want development,” Peck said. “People who live in the rainforest of Indonesia and Malaysia want development to secure reliable employment, provide better housing, ascertain a steady supply of food, get electricity in their homes, have an Internet connection and get access to modern medical facilities. They realize sending their children to good schools is most important for their children’s future, and this is only possible with development.”

Palm oil farming can be an effective weapon in the fight against global warming while also providing economic opportunities for people in developing countries. NGOs should consider promoting sustainable palm oil farming instead of demanding a ban that may have unintended consequences, Peck said. (By Yang Yeon-ho and Minu Kim)

Source: pulsenews.co.kr