- [Narrator] You may not know it,
but it's likely that some of the food you eat
and products you use everyday contain palm oil.
This edible, versatile vegetable oil
is found in nearly 50% of all packaged
and supermarket products.
This includes everything from pastries,
peanut butter, and chocolate,
to shampoo, soap, and lipstick.
In some regions, it's also used as a biofuel
and as animal feed.
Palm oil is widely used because it is a combination
of high-quality and versatility with cheap production.
However, cheap and mass-produced palm oil comes at a cost.
Why is palm oil bad for the environment?
Palm oil is found in the fruit of the oil palm tree,
which exclusively grows in tropical climates.
Approximately 90% of the world's palm oil
is grown across just a few islands
in Indonesia and Malaysia.
This region contains one of the most
biodiverse tropical forests in the world.
While palm oil has many diverse uses,
it's proliferation is devastating the diversity
of the natural world.
Palm oil production is a leading driver
of deforestation and habitat loss.
Particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nigeria,
the top three regions for palm production.
Because of the industry's high deforestation rate,
Indonesia is currently the third largest
global producer of greenhouse gas.
Worldwide production of palm oil has grown steadily
in the last five decades.
Annual production increased 400% between 1995 and 2015,
and it is expected to grow by the same rate before 2050.
According to World Agroforestry,
palm oil plantations account for 10%
of all permanent global cropland.
The sheer quantity of palm oil being produced,
and the land required to do so, means that huge areas
of tropical forest and valuable ecosystems
with high conservation values are being cleared.
The replacing of diverse natural environments
with vast monoculture palm plantations
has destroyed critical habitats
for many critically endangered species.
- In 1985, Riau in Sumatra,
was covered by natural forest.
The natural forest was the home
for wild elephants and wild tigers,
but since the industry came into the province,
that then start the deforestation.
- [Narrator] According to the World Wildlife Fund,
forests are frequently burned
to make space for palm oil crops,
a key contributor to the industry's
greenhouse gas emissions.
The intensive cultivation methods favored
on such plantations also results in serious soil pollution,
extensive water contamination, and erosion.
The WWF says, "The practice of draining
"and converting tropical peat forests in Indonesia
"is particularly damaging.
"These carbon sinks store more carbon per unit area
"than any other ecosystem in the world.
"Additionally, forest fires used to clear vegetation
"in the establishment of palm plantations,
"are a source of carbon dioxide
"that contributes to climate change."
Celebrated anthropologist and conservationist,
Dr. Jane Goodall, has described rainforests
as ecological marvels, million of years in the making.
- [Dr. Goodall] They contain a staggering diversity of life.
They create the oxygen we breathe,
and regulate our climate.
They are our life-support system.
(water crashing)
But rainforests are at grave risk.
Every second of every day, an irreplaceable rainforest
the size of a football field is destroyed.
Powerful economic and political interests
are driving their destruction
to produce beef, palm oil, and paper.
- [Narrator] How does palm oil production impact wildlife?
The extensive industrial destruction of forests
by palm oil plantations inevitably
impacts the local flora and fauna.
Intentional burning, in particular,
caused extreme habitat loss.
Deforestation , and pollution of air, water and soil
destroys the habitat of endangered and Indigenous animals
in the areas surrounding palm oil plantations.
According to the International Union
for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species,
palm oil production affects at least 193 threatened species
around the world.
IUCN also estimates that the expansion of oil palm
could affect 54% of all threatened mammals,
and 64% of all threatened birds globally.
The IUCN explains, "It also reduces the diversity
"and abundance of most native species.
"It has played a major role in the decline in species
"such as orangutans and tigers.
"Some 10,000 of the estimated 75,000 to 100,000
"critically endangered Bornean orangutans
"are currently found in areas allocated to oil palm."
The IUCN estimates that 750 to 1,250 orangutans
are killed yearly in human-orangutan conflicts,
of which most are linked to the expansion
of palm-based agriculture.
According to National Geographic,
almost 150,000 critically endangered Bornean orangutans
perished between 1999 to 2015.
Sumatran rhinoceroses and elephants
are also impacted by unsustainable palm oil production.
According to WWF, fewer than 3,000 Sumatran elephants
now remain in the area.
The Sumatran rhino population is also unstable.
And the combination of poaching and palm oil production
threatens the rapidly dwindling population.
How does palm oil impact people?
Palm oil production also has a lasting impact
on local communities,
and the associated pollution is a growing problem
for people throughout Southeast Asia.
Many communities also suffer economically
from the development of expanding
and new palm oil plantations.
Often, people's lack of access to the forests
is not adequately compensated by the profits
of palm oil production.
Goodall has said that in addition
to wiping out countless species,
deforestation marginalizes the poor and deepens inequality.
These industries are threatening the survival
of Indigenous communities.
As deforestation continues to displace wildlife
such as tigers, orangutans, and elephants,
the increase in human-wildlife conflict
results in both human and non-human casualties.
Many Indigenous communities,
in addition to NGO's and environmental groups,
protest the expansion of palm oil production in Indonesia.
- In Jambi, one of the province in the island of Sumatra,
is the conflict between the local people
and the palm oil company.
- [Narrator] This community resistance is met
in part with violence,
and has resulted in the murder
of several prominent campaigners and activists.
Human rights lawyer, Antonio Trejo Cabrera,
was ambushed by gunmen leaving a church in Honduras in 2012.
Cabrera's death was proceeded by a series
of successful cases in which he represented
local organizations against the palm oil company, Dinant.
While the company was never linked to Cabrera's death,
in 2013 the International Finance Corporation
denied Dinant a multimillion dollar loan installment.
The corporation cited allegations that 40 different murders
could be linked to its plantations, security guards,
and third-party security contractors.
Environmental activist, Bill Kayong,
who had been working with Bornean villages
to reclaim land from a Malaysian palm oil company,
was also murdered.
While three individuals were originally
charged with the murder,
a director and shareholder of the Tung Huat Niah Plantation
was suspected by police and fled the country.
- 45-year-old Stephen Lee Chee Kiang is the fourth
and main suspect to be charged
with the (murmuring) reps murder.
Just days after Bill Kayong was gunned down mafia-style
on June 22nd, this year,
Lee fled the country and has been on the run ever since.
Local police and Interpol had been on a manhunt
and they managed to arrest him in China
with the help of Chinese authorities.
- [Narrator] Unfortunately, many reports of activists deaths
follow a similar pattern,
including the murder of the Guatemalan teacher,
Rigoberto Lima Choc, one of the first people to document
the negative impact of palm oil production
on the local community and environment.
Land conflicts have become increasingly common
as plantations continue to grow
and human rights groups watch the palm oil industry closely.
How do palm oil bans work?
Palm oil bans are one way in which
the international community is attempting
to take action on unsustainable palm oil production.
Last year, Peru became the second South American country,
after Columbia, to make a sustainable palm oil pledge.
It aims to end palm oil-driven deforestation by 2021.
Peru's environment-minded commitment
aligns with the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report,
which assesses the potential impacts of climate change
and ways to adapt to and mitigate the environmental crisis.
Peru's pledge also aligns
with the Joint Declaration of Intent
signed with Norway and Germany,
which aims for the end of deforestation by 2021.
In 2018, Norway announced a complete ban
on palm oil-based biofuels.
While biofuels make up just one section
of the palm oil market,
new European Union policies restricting the use of palm
in non-food sectors aim to reduce overall demand.
Norway's Rainforest Foundation commissioned a 2017 report
on palm oil-based biofuels
and found them to be more damaging
to the climate than fossil fuels.
Perhaps several times worse.
The EU is working toward a 2030 deadline
to phaseout the use of palm oil.
In 2018, British supermarket Iceland
introduced a self-imposed ban on palm oil
in all of its private label products.
The supermarket worked with Greenpeace
to announce the campaign.
- An orangutan in my bedroom.
Just before you go, why were you in my bedroom?
I really want to know.
There's a human in my forest,
and I don't know what to do.
He destroyed all of our trees
for your food and your shampoo.
There's a human in my forest
and I don't know what to do.
He took away my mother,
and I'm scared he'll take me too.
- [Narrator] By eliminating palm oil
from its own brand products,
Iceland aims to reduce the amount
of palm oil used each year by 500 tons.
Palm oil is a complicated issue.
And while boycotting palm oil as an individual,
a company, or in the form of a national ban is one option,
some experts point out that an even more land-hungry form
of oil production may take its place.
What about sustainable palm oil?
- If the biggest companies can be sustainable
the others will follow.
But if the biggest cannot,
what will happen with the others?
- [Interviewer] So you're trying
to make an example of Sinar Mas?
- Yes, of course.
So that's why we keep pushing Sinar Mas.
You're the biggest.
You should be leading the example to show the government,
and also other stakeholders in the industries,
and the people, that you can change.
- [Narrator] Compared to other oils,
palm oil is a remarkably economical crop.
It is the sheer scale of demand and production
that causes difficulties.
According to WWF, palm oil currently supplies 35%
of the world's vegetable oil demand on just 10% of the land.
Also, despite the impact of unsustainable production
on local people, palm oil is a crucial crop
for certain communities.
The WWF explains palm oil is an important crop
for the GDP of emerging economies.
There are million of small holder farmers
who depend on producing palm oil for their livelihood.
Boycotting palm oil is not always the answer,
but demanding more action to tackle the issues
and go further and faster is.
The Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil,
or RSPO certification,
is one such effort to improve the industry's sustainability.
The RSPO has a production standard
that sets best practices producing and sourcing palm oil.
It also currently has the buy-in
of most of the global industry.
- Of course, being the first company in Indonesia
to obtain the RSPO certificate, we are proud.
And we hope that other plantation company
in Indonesia will follow suit.
- [Male Narrator] 20% of palm oil production worldwide
has been certified to the standards of the Roundtable.
This includes over 3.2 million hectares of certified land.
- [Narrator] By growing sustainably
and providing encouragement and incentives for companies,
the RSPO aims to improve the overall standard
of palm oil production.
Goodall also supports sustainable palm oil production.
- You can't say ban palm oil altogether,
because vegetable oil is needed
and it might mean even more land destroyed
to grow other kinds of vegetable oil.
So the solution is to have palm oil
from sustainable plantations,
no more cutting down the old growth forests.
- [Narrator] Some experts believe that palm oil alternatives
are the best way to deal with the sustainability issues
of mass-produced palm oil.
Earlier this year, Bill Gates' investment fund,
Breakthrough Energy Ventures,
led a 20 million dollar
series A investment round in C16 Biosciences.
The startup uses bio-reactors to grow oil in a lab
that's almost identical to traditional palm.
- Cells need sugar just like we do, right?
And that's what makes these really, really awesome
is that they take the sugar in,
and they do some really interesting chemistry
and biology inside themselves,
and they make, they turn that sugar into oils.
C16 aims to replace all deforestation linked palm oil
with its sustainable lab-grown alternative.
A San Francisco-based startup called Kiverdi
is also working on a sustainable alternative to palm oil,
as is the University of Bath in the UK.
The phasing out of products that use unsustainable palm oil
is made possible by a combination of legislation,
grassroots campaigning, and sustainable alternatives
such as C16's lab-produced oil.
C16 brews palm oil much like beer,
which the company believes is a likely path
in the development of sustainable palm oil alternatives.
In a short film for climate change organization
The Year's Project, Goodall gives a reason for hope.
- [Dr. Goodall] But there is still hope
where a different future awaits us,
where faith unites us to make rainforests
a shared spiritual priority,
where we teach our communities that rainforests
are a sacred trust,
where we feed a growing planet
without converting rainforests,
where we work with companies to ensure their products
are deforestation-free,
and where we make sure that governments protect forests
and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
This is the future where we do what is right.
- [Narrator] That's it for today.
Did you learn anything new about palm oil?
Do you actively avoid unsustainable palm oil in your life?
Let us know in the comments below.
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