Palm oil body accused of ignoring greenhouse gas emissions
JAKARTA ~ The body set up to certify “sustainable” palm-oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia is completely ignoring greenhouse gas emissions in its certification procedure, according to a report issued today.
In a damning statement, Wetlands International says that palm oil shipped to Europe by members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is far from sustainable because it is produced from palm trees planted on peatland.
Peatlands constitute one of the world’s greatest and most efficient carbon stores, containing more carbon than any other ecosystem. Destroying peatland for subsequent use as a palm-oil plantation is extremely damaging to the world’s climate.
The continual degradation and drainage of tropical peatlands for palm oil plantations leads to a rapid decomposition of the organic carbon of peat, and contributes 8% of current global fossil fuel emissions, says the statement.
By conservative estimates, about 8% of Malaysian and up to 25% of Indonesian palm oil plantations are on peatlands. In Indonesia this results in 150 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually and approximately 33 million tonnes emissions in Malaysia.
More than 50% of proposed new plantations in Indonesia are planned on peatlands, despite the proclamation of a presidential decree banning the practice.
The RSPO, whose members include major international companies such as Unilever, loses all credibility when it allows its members to sell oil produced from peatland.
RSPO is not only accused of helping to fuel climate change it also stands accused of failing to live up to its commitments. At a meeting in November 2007, members voted to establish a committee to develop criteria on maximum greenhouse gas emissions connected to palm oil production.
“We are very disappointed that a year later, such a committee is still not in place,” said Wetlands International.
Environmentalists believe that RSPO is little more than a green-wash body set up to make producers look good through the use of a certification system that is not worth the paper it is written on.
“How can anyone believe in a certification system that is designed, produced and implemented by the very people who are ripping up the forests for the sole purpose of self-enrichment,” said Green Assembly spokesman, Peter Caldwell.
Caldwell said the oil-palm industry had been given enough time to clean up its act. Self-regulation has not worked. The RSPO has been in existence for six years now and it has achieved nothing in terms of mitigating climate change, said Caldwell.
“The RSPO should be disbanded and replaced by a new independent body based in a country that does not have a financial interest in palm oil,” he added, noting that Malaysia and Indonesia are two of the most corrupt countries in the world according to Transparency International.
Caldwell said that until a new independent body had been set up, there should not only be a moratorium on new plantations, there should also be a complete ban on the importation of palm-oil from Malaysia, Indonesia and also from Thailand.
____________________________________________________________________
Filed under: Indonesia, Malaysia, oil palm, palm oil, peatlands, wetlands