Exactly how ‘bad ‘ is palm oil? Whilst groups have for a long time said ‘very bad’ , it seems not so simple …. according to the IUCN.
A lack of data on the environmental and social impacts of vegetable oil crops stands in the way of informed discussions about their relative sustainability, a new study by members of the IUCN’s Palm Oil Task Force finds. More accurate, high-resolution maps and data on a range of vegetable oils are needed to help decision-makers determine which crops should be grown where in order to sustainably meet rising global demand, according to the study.
The paper, published today in the journal Nature Plants, presents new data for oil palm plantations around the world and provides an overview of the environmental and biodiversity impacts of this crop. It then compares these, where possible, with the impacts of other oil crops such as rapeseed, soy or coconut, within the limits of available data. The paper confirms that oil palm plantations have had significant impacts on key species and ecosystems in the tropics, but reveals a lack of information on impacts of other vegetable oils.
“The demand for vegetable oil continues to grow, and so, inevitably, will the need for agricultural land to produce it. When you replace a complex tropical forest with a single-species plantation, there are bound to be negative consequences on biodiversity, the climate and local communities’ health and wellbeing, regardless of the crop planted. In this light, it is critically important that we make sound, well-informed decisions on which crops to plant where, and in what way, to minimize their negative environmental impacts and maximize their social benefits”, said lead author Erik Meijaard, Professor at the University of Kent and Chair of the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force. “To do so, we need accurate, scientific data and high-resolution maps on all the available crops, which are currently lacking.”
The new study highlights that, while oil palm is associated with more species listed as Threatened on the IUCN Red List (321) than any other oil crop, other vegetable oils also threaten biodiversity. Soy oil is associated with 73 species listed as Threatened, coconut with 65 and maize with 131. Rapeseed, meanwhile, is associated with high fertilizer use and larger carbon emissions than oil palm relative to the amount of oil produced, according to the study
Updating the 2018 IUCN situation analysis on oil palm and biodiversity, the new study finds that oil palm now makes up around 40% of the current global vegetable oil supply despite occupying only around 5.5% of the total global oil crop area (between 21.5 and 23.4 million hectares). For comparison, soy for oil production is planted in an area of 125 million hectares, or almost 30% of oil crop area worldwide, while supplying 28% of the vegetable oil demand. Oil palm plantations have accounted for more than half of local deforestation in e.g. Malaysian Borneo in recent decades, but are estimated to contribute moderately to deforestation globally. No reliable data is available on the amount of deforestation other oils have caused.
“When it comes to the end use, vegetable oils are mostly interchangeable – but they differ in how productive they are and in their impacts on the environment. For instance, average yields for oil palm per unit area are several times those of rapeseed, soy, groundnut, cotton, coconut or sunflower. This implies that, if palm oil continues to play a dominant role in overall oil production, an additional 35.7 million hectares of oil plantations could meet the projected demand in 2050. This would mean an 8% increase in land use. If on the other hand, the less productive soy were used to meet this demand, an additional 204 million hectares of tropical and subtropical land would be needed, or a 48% increase compared to now”, said Professor Douglas Sheil of the Norwegian University of Life Science, a co-author on the study.
The study concludes that the research focus and global attention on the impacts of palm oil has led to more pressure on producers to improve practices and reduce environmental and social impacts, compared to other agricultural commodities. Similar attention to other crops would likely drive positive change in their practices and impacts.
“All crops come with trade-offs in terms of environmental and social impact. The better we understand these trade-offs on a local and global scale, the more sustainably we can meet the demand for agricultural commodities, which is key to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals”, said Thomas Brooks, IUCN Chief Scientist and a co-author of the study.
Palm oil is controversial due to its social and environmental impacts and opportunities. Loss of natural habitats, reduction in woody biomass and peatland drainage that occur during site preparation are the main direct environmental impacts from oil palm development8. Such conversion typically reduces biodiversity and water quality and increases greenhouse gas emissions, and, when fire is used, smoke and haze5,9. Industrial oil palm expansion by large multinational and national companies is also often associated with social problems, such as land grabbing and conflicts, labour exploitation, social inequity10 and declines in village-level well-being11
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Abstract
Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires balancing demands on land between agriculture (SDG 2) and biodiversity (SDG 15). The production of vegetable oils and, in particular, palm oil, illustrates these competing demands and trade-offs. Palm oil accounts for ~40% of the current global annual demand for vegetable oil as food, animal feed and fuel (210 Mt), but planted oil palm covers less than 5–5.5% of the total global oil crop area (approximately 425 Mha) due to oil palm’s relatively high yields. Recent oil palm expansion in forested regions of Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, where >90% of global palm oil is produced, has led to substantial concern around oil palm’s role in deforestation. Oil palm expansion’s direct contribution to regional tropical deforestation varies widely, ranging from an estimated 3% in West Africa to 50% in Malaysian Borneo. Oil palm is also implicated in peatland draining and burning in Southeast Asia. Documented negative environmental impacts from such expansion include biodiversity declines, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. However, oil palm generally produces more oil per area than other oil crops, is often economically viable in sites unsuitable for most other crops and generates considerable wealth for at least some actors. Global demand for vegetable oils is projected to increase by 46% by 2050. Meeting this demand through additional expansion of oil palm versus other vegetable oil crops will lead to substantial differential effects on biodiversity, food security, climate change, land degradation and livelihoods. Our Review highlights that although substantial gaps remain in our understanding of the relationship between the environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts of oil palm, and the scope, stringency and effectiveness of initiatives to address these, there has been little research into the impacts and trade-offs of other vegetable oil crops. Greater research attention needs to be given to investigating the impacts of palm oil production compared to alternatives for the trade-offs to be assessed at a global scale.
Over the past 25 years, global oil crops have expanded rapidly, with major impacts on land use1. The land used for growing oil crops grew from 170 Mha in 1961 to 425 Mha in 2017 (ref. 2), or ~30% of all cropland worldwide3. Oil palm, soy and rapeseed together account for >80% of all vegetable oil production, with cotton, groundnuts, sunflower, olive and coconut comprising most of the remainder (Table 1 and Fig. 1). These crops, including soy (125 Mha planted area2) and maize (197 Mha planted area2), are also used as animal feed and other products.
Oil palm originates from equatorial Africa where it has been cultivated for millennia, but it is now widely grown in Southeast Asia. Between 2008 and 2017, oil palm expanded globally at an estimated rate of 0.7 Mha per year2, and palm oil is the leading and cheapest edible oil in much of Asia and Africa. While it has been estimated that palm oil is an ingredient in 43% of products found in British supermarkets4, we lack comparable studies for the prevalence of other oils.
As a wild plant, the oil palm is a colonizing species that establishes in open areas. Cultivated palms are commonly planted as monocultures, although the tree is also used in mixed, small-scale and agroforestry settings. To maximize photosynthetic capacity and fruit yields, oil palm requires a warm and wet climate, high solar radiation and high humidity. It is thus most productive in the humid tropics, while other oil crops, except coconut, grow primarily in subtropical and temperate regions (Table 1). Moreover, because oil palm tolerates many soils, including deep peat and sandy substrates, it is often profitable in locations where few other commodity crops are viable. The highest yields from planted oil palm have been reported in Southeast Asia5. Yields are generally lower in Africa6 and the Neotropics5, likely reflecting differences in climatic conditions including humidity and cloud cover6 as well as management, occurrence of pests and diseases, and planting stock7.
Palm oil is controversial due to its social and environmental impacts and opportunities. Loss of natural habitats, reduction in woody biomass and peatland drainage that occur during site preparation are the main direct environmental impacts from oil palm development8. Such conversion typically reduces biodiversity and water quality and increases greenhouse gas emissions, and, when fire is used, smoke and haze5,9. Industrial oil palm expansion by large multinational and national companies is also often associated with social problems, such as land grabbing and conflicts, labour exploitation, social inequity10 and declines in village-level well-being11. In producer countries, oil palm is a valued crop that brings economic development to regions with few alternative agricultural development options12, and it generates substantial average livelihood improvements when smallholder farmers adopt oil palm13. Here, we review the current understanding of the environmental impacts from oil palm cultivation and assess what we know about other oil crops in comparison. Our focus is on biodiversity implications and the environmental aspects of sustainability, and we acknowledge the importance of considering these alongside socio-cultural, political and economic outcomes.
Deforestation and oil palm expansion
A remote sensing assessment found that oil palm plantations covered at least 19.5 Mha globally in 2019 (Fig. 2), of which an estimated 67.2% were industrial-scale plantings and the remainder were smallholders14. With 17.5 Mha, Southeast Asia has the largest area under production, followed by South and Central America (1.31 Mha), Africa (0.58 Mha) and the Pacific (0.14 Mha). However, the actual area under oil palm production could be 10–20% greater than the area detected from satellite imagery—that is, 21.5–23.4 Mha—because young plantations (less than approximately three years old), open-canopy plantations or mixed-species agroforests may have been omitted14. Estimates suggest that the proportion of oil palm area under smallholder cultivation (typically less than 50 ha of land per family15) varies from 30–60% in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia11 to 94% in Nigeria5.
( source and full article- https://www.iucn.org/news/science-and-economics/202012/mapping-global-impacts-all-vegetable-oils-key-sustainability-iucn-study )
