The real problem with Palm Oil.

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In this Our Changing Climate environmental video essay, I look at the effects of palm oil on the environment and deforestation. Specifically, I look at how palm oil demand has caused a huge increase in oil palm plantations. As a result, producers clear-cut, log and burn peatlands and primary rainforests in order to make way for palm oil fields. By itself, palm oil is not necessarily a harmful product, but because palm oil is now in thousands of products, the rate at which it's being consumed has caused deforestation and environmental destruction on a large scale.

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Resources:
6. Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Palm Plantations and their

[OurChangingClimate]

What's your take on Palm Oil? Do you try to avoid products because of it?

[nathanieldrew]

I really appreciate how you always consider multiple perspectives and don't unnecessarily sensationalize the information that you share. This is how we should be discussing these kinds of complex subjects.

[redityafilzapriatama]

European and american talk about environment, but in the other hand export rubbish to South East Asia Country by container

[shahrilabdhamid]

we asian see its as a way to protect your gmo soy bean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil etc. yeah u can blame asian country for deforestation while you westerner can enjoy vast uncontrol development. in malaysia felda and felcra and others ethically handle palm oil plantation without compromise to the environment. so blaming all the planters in not the way.

[GrosuVasile]

Could you do a video on synthetic leather versus real leather regarding sustainability and emissions?

[alicer]

So technically the problem with everything we humans do is how we get rid of it in the wrong way.

[JulianScott]

As mentioned in the video, palm oil is the most land efficient way to produce vegetable fat. Boycotting products containing it will only result in the production of more land intensive oil crops such as sunflowers. The underlying problem here as always is population growth, with most palm oil consumption actually occurring in Asia due to its relative affordability.

[jeffrythoksapan]

If we replace palm oil to soya oil will it harm to environment too?

[OnyxNJclown]

You can also donate to charities that help educate farmers and fisherman on sustainable practices. Rainforest alliance, the nature conservancy, tree for the future, etc.

[wanakmar]

I think we should minimize consuming milk/meat from New Zealand too.. Huge land cleared used for cattle grazing.

[victorialim]

Happy that you gave a balanced perspective on this issue! Palm oil is problematic when it is grown in the conventional way, but boycotting it is NOT the answer, as mentioned in the video. On a per hectare basis, oil palm trees are 6-10 times more efficient at producing oil than others like rapeseed, soybean, olive and sunflower. What can we do as consumers? Support products that use RSPO CERTIFIED Palm Oil, which means that it has been grown with certain environmental and social considerations in mind!

[amirulhzd]

when they hate competition. they just need to demonize their competitor

[harrisonkim]

It is not the duty of Southeast Asians to clean up an atmosphere that was damaged by 200 years of Euro-American industrialisation. Even the palm plantations themselves were introduced by colonial processes, and it is the people of Southeast Asia who have suffered the worst consequences of the environmental devastation. The reorganization of land use in Southeast Asia will proceed differently. Although palm diesel will die, the conversion of mono crop lands to more enlightened uses will certainly embrace red palm as a central food resource serving, first, local interests. Southeast Asian products sold as commodities in the West without internalizing environmental costs will become staples locally, while in the West these goods will be distributed as luxuries that subsidise true environmental equity. This is the way non exploitative processes will undo the damage of the past few hundred years. Do you understand now?

[wongkianhau]

The yield per hectare produced by palm oil is 18.5 tonnes, whereas soybean is 0.4 tonnes per hectare. Hence, palm oil uses less land to produce oil which in turn would need less amount of forests to be cleared.

[rynieryarom]

Growing up in Sarawak, a large state in Malaysia, I often travel long distances for family and my parent's work. The sheer scale of how much forest is lost, is hard to see for any one individual. My parents work in healthcare so I followed them moving from city to deep inland towns and villages to city. I have to say everywhere has been terraformed for palm oil since the early 2000s. From the seashore swamps of Miri and Mukah to the deep mountains of Belaga and Kapit(my parents were stationed at the west in my early childhood, the inland mountains during middle childhood and the east during teenage years and we frequently traverse the whole state for holidays because my parents came from opposite ends of the state). Every. Every district there are huge and I mean huge plantations of palm oil trees. Though now you can't see pass 5m into the plantation because the trees are huge now but when the land is still bright red and bare, the red soil goes endless. Now you can see plantation that can go on and on for kilometres just from the main highway.

Recently my uni brought in people from the palm oil plantation sector. It seems their projections will still increase for a couple more decades (25yr). That means more land will be converted for oil. They said they are striving for"balance" between the ecosystem and production. I did ask essentially what are the doing with the people who are planting more than they should. He said they wouldn't even have license for the plantation work and there are bodies that try to stop it. But everyone knows they do nothing or not even enough to stop anything. And for my question I got a bag of goodies with imitation Oreo, keropok (chips), and wafers.

Hippie powers of the 80s and 90s doesn't hold a candle to today's ruthless cooperation. Captain planet would be disappointed

[khairilazuan]

I'm from malaysia..and I strongly disagree with your video, palm is the main crop for this country and it's getting better..we are not doing open burning and we just cut down the forest to replace it by planting palm trees by adopting mspo principles .. your statement can cause many smallholders to spend every single point in their perspiration

[SoundOfIce]

Today indonesia government stop giving the permit for big company to expand and doin any deforestation for palm oil plantation anymore, they only have to do a replanting, wich mean after 25 years, the palm tree get lowest the productivity, and you replanting it with the new one. and do you know what?, palm oil sector is one of the highest income for the indonesia country right now, every fcking single year. And also do you know what? In my country indonesia, here is a million people hanging their lives in this industry, some a worker for big company, some of them own the small land and sell the fruit into the company, and do you know what? After EU made a statement late 2018 about this banning idea, the price of palm oil decrease more than 100% and never get increase anymore, do you know what that mean? That mean million people going to suffering right now, this is just number for you, but can you imagine their children? Their family?

This million people also made the government of Indonesia, Malaysia, & another country that have palm oil income had one word and tell if EU just doin a black campaign into palm oil industry, and the banning industry is non-sense, also have political reason behind it, like u said EU have sunflower and another vegetable oil plantation, but is that really can cover the palm oil demand? the impact is very dangerous, can you imagine?

Im telling you something, palm oil industry is the one and the only industry that need the sustainable sertificate, the one and only. Mining industry? Not, another vegetable oil? Not. I know it sounds like we monopoli the industry, but if you do another research and you already told in the video, palm oil is the biggest source of oil more than other vegetable oil /ha. Its efficient, real efficient.

CPO Banning by EU sounds like them jealouse to our yellow, asian, that can produce a massive efficient low prices vegetable oil.

Right now our government working hard to fight against the black campaign made by EU, by making alot of research and tell the world is our Palm Oil Plantation is sustainable and have the same mission as UN SDGs 2030.


By the way im son of palm oil farmer, my father have 3 Ha palm oil plantation, very small one. Every month before the EU made banning statement my family income is some like IDR 3.500.000 but after the EU statement its only less than IDR 1.500.000 and today? Less than IDR 1.000.000 ( you can check exchange rate on the google), imagine how can live with it?

The issue about negative effect of palm oil is already fix by government itself, and i think its already finish, lets see the future by thinking the small people like us, stop spread hates, stop discriminating, i know asian look like monopoli the industry, but its not made by a night, its happen from 40ish year ago, there is alot of different president, a lot of different law change, a lot of different politican take the wheel.

but today we change it, we focus on it, we working on sustainable palm oil industry.

Please stop discriminating palm oil.

Its not resolving the problem, its not helping.

discriminating only make it worse, im dead serious right know.


I hope you read it.

South Borneo, 9 july 2019.

[FaizalMostaffa]

As a son of a small holder whom his wages hugely depends on palm oil plantation, all i can say palm oil has changed our family from low income into middle income family. My dad can afford our education untill we went to university, better house and upgraded our life’s quality. Recent boycott on our palm oil industry, has affect my dad’s income so much, and he has to cut all his expenses. Those who are not come from farmers background may not understand and criticised palm oil. In fact, these crops has fed us and gave us education since we were kid. They should realised the one that destroys the forest mostly are greedy big firms, not small holders.

[syedhussin]

Being from Malaysia and my parents being diplomats, one of which is working here in Germany currently I've heard about the complex situation of palm oil. I know how the burning of forests has affected us back home (I currently live in Berlin), every year we would have to deal with haze, and the smell of burning I remember back in 2015 school had to close cuz the air was too unfit to breathe and no one could go out and do sports. Though I think the burning of forests has gone down drastically at least (I remember my mum talking about an agreement about no more burning forests to make way for palm oil plantations), I know that the haze still persists back home. The complex issue now is that due to our last prime minister, Malaysia's economy is trying to recover from the huge debts he has caused and we are pretty reliant on palm oil as it is our main exporter. I do agree that western countries should probably help develop more sustainable efforts, since you guys are the one driving the demand. But with the whole mentality of not caring since its far away and its a less developed country so lets exploit its cheap labour (which has also been done with dumping the west's waste (though many SEA nations are cracking down on that too).

[kavidharanrajoo]

Palm tree is actually a rain forest plant..We still have tigers, elephants, boar and different type of birds in the plantations. On the other hand Europe don't even have forest for them to save. Don't tell me they never cut down any trees to plant olive, soy or sunflower...