The Secretary General of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), Dr. Rizal Affandi Lukman, responded to Bill Gates, the investor of C16 Biosciences, who stated that palm oil is the worst culprit of climate change.
Gates, funded USD 3.5 million through Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to a research program to find an alternative material to palm oil from yeast, a microorganism that grows on foods after going through fermentation. Gates felt the need to fund this research program because the vegetable oils consumed globally play a part in wildfires in the forests and peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia in 2018, which released 1.4% global emission.
The CPOPC Secretary General found that what Bill Gates shared in his blog is misleading, and a way to form public’s opinion without basing it on accurate data by stating that palm oil is the cause of deforestation.
The Governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have been making extensive efforts to ensure that their palm oil is produced sustainably, one of which is by stopping the land expansion for new oil palm plantation. World Research Institute showed a significant reduction on the deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia since 2017. Both countries continue committing to improve the productivity of existing plantations without opening new lands through their national regulations, including their sustainability certifications.
Gates might not be aware that palm oil is the only vegetable oil being subjected to the most stringent certification requirements vis-à-vis other vegetable oils. From the mandatory national certification schemes, i.e. Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO), to the voluntary-based certification schemes, such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Agriculture Sustainable Standard (SAN), International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), and High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach.
To attain a sustainable palm oil production for food and energy security, the CPOPC Secretary General believes that the solution needed is a cooperation between the producing and consuming countries. CPOPC took a part in complying with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), by facilitating a collaboration between the Governments of Indonesia and Malaysia and the European Union through an Ad Hoc Joint Task Force (JTF). This platform was formed to discuss the challenges of the implementation of EUDR based on the common understanding of the sustainability issues, and to ensure not only that the products of the commodities within the EUDR are not the result of deforestation, but also that they are and will be compliance to the regulation.
The CPOPC Secretary General agrees that deforestation needs to be stopped. However, a strong and solid partnership is needed to attain this, and not by blaming any party. Therefore, the CPOPC Secretary General urged Gates to correct the claim that palm oil is the worst culprit of climate change. On the other hand, many scientific findings show that the cultivation of oil palm has reduced the greenhouse gas emission (GHG). Palm oil comes from a tree that sequestrates carbon dioxide and release oxygen, which proves that palm oil plays an important role to contribute to the GHG emission.
The CPOPC Secretary General welcomes the scientific findings of palm oil alternative as an initiative to maintain food and energy security in the midst of the quickly increasing world population. The United Nations estimated that the population will reach 8.5 billions by 2030, and the demand for palm oil will increase to 33 million tons in the same year. The Food and Agriculture Organization reported that Indonesia and Malaysia willcontribute up to 83% of the global palm oil production and 34% of the global vegetable oil demand. Palm oil and the other vegetable oils are complementary to each other, and therefore the industries need to collaborate to maintain the stability of global food and energy security. This motivation is what CPOPC is spreading through the annual Sustainable Vegetable Oils Conference, which will be held for the third time on the 10 September, 2024 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Governments of Indonesia and Malaysia are also committed to not expanding plantation area and focus on enhancing productivity, such as through replanting program with high-yielding materials. Rather that discrediting, Gates should rethink the ecological function of palm oil, its productivity that reaches 8 – 10 times of the other vegetable oils’, and its role in maintaining the global food and energy security. Are these not enough proofs of the statement of Nico Roozen, the founder of Solidaridad Network, that palm oil is the world’s savior from an ecological disaster?(