Palm Oil's Relationship with our Environment

The controversial topic of the day: How bad is palm oil for the environment? While I came into writing this article with an answer already in mind, I learned that the answer is actually a lot more complicated than I initially presumed.

Here's the bad:

• Palm oil contributes to the largely-known deforestation issue, releasing copious amounts of carbon into our atmosphere as the trees are cut down, inadvertently speeding up our climate change timeline.
• Palm oil correlates directly with the decrease in the orangutan population, a drop from 315,000 in 1990 to fewer than 50,000 in the wild today (not to mention the many other species threatened by the deforestation of their homes).
• Palm oil is associated with illegal land theft, displacing many communities in the process.

So why is anyone even farming for palm oil, and getting away with it?

Yes, money has a lot to do with it, but there are some unexpected upsides to its production. For one, its yields are heavy – very heavy. According to Smithsonian, no other oil-producing crop can bring in even a third of what oil palms can. Second, oil palms' usage of pesticides and chemical fertilizers is considerably less in comparison to the competition, making for a product that is cheap for farmers to produce and inexpensive for businesses to buy.

Now, stay with me here… In some sense, palm oil is a better crop for the environment when looked at from the narrow-minded view of production (after the land was acquired). The environmental impact of producing this crop is significantly less than, say, coconut or soybean oil because oil palms use fewer pesticides, less chemical fertilizers, and a much smaller land area to create the same amount of product.

Alas, that doesn't change the fact that potential farmers are obtaining this land in an entirely unsustainable manner, causing some living creatures (including humans, indirectly) to question their future on this planet. Yet the industry continues to grow. By 2022, the global market value of palm oil is expected to reach $88 billion. This anticipated outcome causes friction between the nature lovers and the big businesses who choose to advert their eyes in the name of the dollar. As upsetting as that reality may be, I still believe we can move in the right direction.

What if we stop buying palm oil products altogether? Won't that stop the problem? My answer is yes and no. Palm oil is in 50% of all household products, including food, soap, toothpaste, peanut butter, makeup, laundry detergent, and so much more. It's hard to avoid entirely. If we boycott palm oil altogether, that puts the focus on other oil-producing crops, crops that use more land, more chemical fertilizers, and more pesticides, all of which are arguably just as destructive to our environment. Instead, we need to put a little more brainpower into our dollar votes and support the companies that are doing it right. Palm oil, if done correctly, could benefit our environment with its usage of fewer resources. It could also provide additional employment opportunities for people in associated countries. The issue solely lies with how farmers are obtaining this land.

My answer? Sustainable agriculture. It seems simple enough. But, once again, it is much more complicated than it looks. There are palm oil companies that produce "sustainable palm oil." Those, in theory, should be our friends, but not all is always as it seems. Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) gives out seals of approval for "sustainable" methods. However, those standards stop at forbidding deforestation ONLY in "high conservation value areas." On top of that, RSPO also allows for mixing sustainable and non-sustainable palm oil. While a little is better than none, this still supports some amount of detrimental deforestation.

What should we gain from this insight? Do your research, even on those who claim to be good. Unfortunately for us, there aren't too many good guys out there in the palm oil industry just yet. WWF, a strong advocator for sustainable palm oil, did have somewhat of a positive outlook after the RSPO agreement, even if it is far from the totality of their aspirations. "All the potential buyers of palm oil - the food and cosmetics industry - want low emissions palm oil," Mr. Harrison said. "It may not have been a perfect outcome, but the issue of deforestation caused by palm oil is going to be tackled."

To make one thing clear – palm oil farming is still a HUGE problem, and it must be dealt with if we hope to see a future for humans on Earth. However, if we want to make a change, we have to think more than just a few steps ahead. Otherwise, we could be taking steps backward. Stay proactive in advocating for a more strict RSPO seal of approval criteria, one that completely bans deforestation for land and doesn't allow a combination of sustainable and non-sustainable palm oil in their products. Palm oil can be for the greater good; it just must be done correctly and responsibly.