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Sustainability is the way forward for palm oil

By Nurul Hanis Izmir

KRABI, Nov 7– The full adherence to sustainability by palm oil-producing countries is the only way forward for the industry to play its part in tackling climate change, said United Plantations Bhd (UP) chief executive director, Datuk Carl Bek-Nielsen.

Whether it is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) or Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification, countries and growers should move towards sustainability, as its impact has proven to be positive across the board, he added.

UP was named the world’s first certified producer of sustainable palm oil by RSPO in 2008.

“By complying to (for instance) the RSPO, companies automatically put a halt to deforestation, which will enable consumers to make an informed choice. 

“ Producers who live up to the RSPO  will be able to produce more with less, so to say,  as the best agricultural practices will eventually trickle, down resulting in higher yields and lowering the greenhouse gas emissions footprint,”  Bek-Nielsen, who is also the co-chair of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) told Bernama here, today.

He said it was proven that plantations that adopted the RSPO practices were able to produce 1kg of palm oil which had a carbon footprint that was at least 25-30 per cent lower compared with what the European rapeseed oil producers achieved today.

He also said these sort of initiatives will slowly, but surely, help portray a better image of palm oil.

Bek-Nielsen was also asked if he feared of any shortfall in demand for Malaysian palm oil amid the continuous negative campaign against the crop by the European Union (EU) and the call by an Indian trade body to restrict its import.

His response was that globally, not more than five to six countries were net exporters of vegetable oils.

“The rest of the world's countries are net importers and can't produce enough to meet the growing demand.

“Malaysia is blessed by a fantastic climate, with a fairly even distribution of rainfall combined with good soil and massive amounts of sunshine and is amongst the world’s five-six net exporters of vegetable oils.

“So, I see demand for Malaysia’s high-quality palm oil from many countries, including India. There is also the very strong historic and cultural ties between India and Malaysia,” he said.

On that note, Bek-Nielsen also emphasised that producer countries, Malaysia in particular, should raise average yields with limited land usage and this can be done by implementing and enforcing the proven standards of the RSPO or the MSPO.

“In the next 30 years we will see the world’s population growing by an additional 2.2 billion people, with the world middle class growing by close to another three billion. We will need to produce 70 per cent more food and 65 per cent more edible oils all in the span of the next 30 years.

“This is where sustainably produced palm oil will play a very important role in helping us achieve higher production of vegetable oils and providing a large part of demand.

“Imagine if this extra oil had to be produced by growing rape or soybean crops, it would require 9-10 times more land, resulting in a much more adverse impact on biodiversity and deforestation,” he said

He also called for a bigger budget to be allocated for the industry to enable it to effectively engage with the necessary stakeholders, so that they can better understand the importance of the industry, which now supports the livelihood of over 650,000 smallholders and how this crop has helped uplift thousands of families out of poverty.

In the 2020 Budget, the government had allocated RM27 million to tackle the anti-palm oil campaign and dismantle trade barriers to improve market access.

--BERNAMA

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