Sustainable Development in Action – Palm Oil

by Tim Wilson, October 19, 2009

Lately, some wealthy environmental groups have decided that it’s a good idea to impoverish farmers in developing countries who engage in sustainable development.

As I wrote in an ABC Online piece in August, well-heeled NGOs in New Zealand are leading a boycott of Cadbury products. Unfortunately, these advocates persuaded the Auckland Zoo to remove Cadbury products from its shelves. They even organized a group on Facebook with the childish motto: “Only d*cks eat Cadbury.”

But the attacks on palm oil are absurd. It is a necessary agriculture product for the developing world to balance the twin objectives of environmental and economic sustainability.

Others have joined the debate, too. In response to my column, Friends of the Earth (FOE) argues that palm oil production leads to deforestation, thus leading to greater greenhouse gas emissions… So, the question remains, is palm oil actually bad for the environment? The answer is simple – it doesn’t have to be if it’s produced sustainably.

And that’s what the environmental groups don’t get.

Responding to my article, FOE’s spokesperson in Australia totally ignored the fact that Cadbury buys its palm oil from sustainable farms in Malaysia. Skirting the issue, the writer instead talked about deforestation in Indonesia.

True, much forest land has been lost in Indonesia. But most of that was prior to 2005. More importantly, FOE got its p’s crossed — most of that destruction was not a result of expanding palm oil production, but rather explosive population growth. Since 2005, agricultural acreage has remained stagnant. But other industries such as housing and infrastructure have taken up 4 million additional hectares.

In Malaysia, there’s been no increase in agricultural acreage since 1995. Of the nation’s total farm land, palm plantations account for only a 20% share. Forest area, meanwhile, has declined by 5% – approximately 1.5 million hectares. But, again, this deforestation is the byproduct of the growth of roads, buildings and factories, not palm plantations.

The NGOs attacking consumers of sustainable palm oil are only being counterproductive. Sadly, their misguided advocacy will only encourage less economic development and more forest destruction.

Perhaps just as troubling, it’s hard to ignore the hypocrisy evident in these attacks. These environmental advocacy groups are not holding bio-fuel and food oil producers in Europe and the rest of the developed world to the same standards. This suggests a protectionist, mercantilist and, dare I say, neo-colonialist mindset toward Asian and African nations.

The boycotting of palm oil lacks validity on economic environmental and ethical grounds. Instead of the trade and wealth created by palm oil’s production, it’s the anti-growth agenda of these environmental groups that is truly unsustainable.

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