LETTER TO THE EDITOR
WALKING THE TALK ON
SUSTAINABILITY THE ONLY WAY
Primary Industries Minister
Teresa Kok’s call to manufacturers to add a “Love MY Palm Oil” label to local
palm oil products and for Malaysians to consume more palm oil (13 March 2019) is
no solution to the European Union’s proposed ban on palm oil biodiesel linked
to deforestation.
The Minister’s argument that 40%
of Malaysians in the palm oil industry are smallholders is also unlikely to
move European parliamentarians.
The issue is not that the
European countries are unaware that the ban would disrupt the economy of the
country and livelihood of smallholders. The European Union and its member
states are proposing the ban precisely because they know economic pressure is
the only way they can get palm oil producer nations to stop deforestation and
prioritise environmental protection. Diplomatic persuasion has not worked, and
voluntary consumer action takes too long to bear results. The proposed ban is
their last resort in trying to influence environmental policies in palm oil
producing countries.
It is not disputed that palm oil
is cheaper and more resource-efficient than other vegetable oils. Alternative
vegetable oil crops such as rapeseed and soy may use up to 10 times more land than
oil palm. However, merely pointing out that other vegetable oil crops are just
as damaging and destructive as oil palm, and alleging victimisation and protectionism
on the part of European nations is hardly going to influence European nations’
and consumers’ perception of Malaysian palm oil. We can only remove the stigma
of deforestation by actually ending deforestation, not by pointing out that
deforestation also occurs elsewhere.
The appropriate response to the
proposed ban is to take transparent, credible, and measurable steps to reduce
deforestation and other environmental and human rights impacts of palm oil.
The problem with both the
Roundtable For Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil
(MSPO) certification systems is that the international scientific and
environmental communities do not endorse either certification as being trustworthy.
The main criticism against the
MSPO is that the organisation playing a vital role in its formulation and
moderation is the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), which clearly is invested in
oil palm cultivation and expansion, thus giving rise to allegations of conflict
of interest and lack of independence and impartiality.
As for the RSPO, only in late
2018 did it adopt new standards prohibiting the clearing of any type of forest
for oil palm cultivation. Previous standards did not protect peatlands or
landscapes with High Carbon Stock. Reports exist to support the claim of
malpractice and corruption by RSPO auditors. Considering that the RSPO, which is the
world’s only global palm oil certification system, is unable to achieve what it
is set up to do – namely, ensure sustainability, human rights, labour
standards, environmental protection and respect for the law – it is highly
doubtful that the international community would perceive the MSPO as having
higher standards of transparency and effectiveness in protecting the
environment, indigenous communities, and wildlife than the RSPO. In fact, the
findings of environmental organisations confirm that MSPO scores even lower
than RSPO on safeguards pertaining to the fair treatment of smallholders,
protection of indigenous communities and access to remedies. How is the MSPO
labelling expected to inspire consumer confidence when its standards are even
lower than that of the RSPO?
Malaysia should instead adopt the
independently verified standards that are being trialled by producers in the
Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), a collection of NGOs including Greenpeace and
progressive producers that aim to provide independently verified, responsibly
produced palm oil. These standards use the RSPO as a basis, but establish
additional requirements on palm oil producers including to assess and protect
peatland and forested areas in their concessions.
The call to clean up the
Malaysian palm oil industry is not a form of bullying or green protectionism or
an attempt to undermine and destroy the Malaysian economy. Environmental
organisations and indigenous communities should not be harassed and ignored in
our attempts to highlight the environmental harms linked to oil palm
cultivation. Environmental organisations are not calling for a halt on economic
growth or the loss of employment opportunities, but the proper management of
natural resources and protection of forests, wildlife, labour rights and
indigenous rights. Malaysia has to recognise that there is a problem, not
merely that of image or marketing, and rise up to be part of the solution.
Satellite data does not lie, and
reveals that logging and deforestation continue to take place wherever there is
oil palm cultivation and expansion. Between 2001 and 2017 alone, Malaysia has
lost 7.29 million hectares of tree cover to oil palm cultivation. Even local
media does not shy away from reporting on wildlife deaths, including those of
charismatic species such as tigers and elephants, linked to oil palm
cultivation. And as recently as today (20 March 2019), news reports have
surfaced of conflicts between indigenous communities in Sarawak and an oil palm
company that was issued a permit to carry out logging next to the Mulu National
Park.
Until there is clear, solid and reliable
evidence to support our claims of environmental sustainability and protection
of human rights, no amount of labelling and marketing can alter how the
international community perceives the Malaysian palm oil industry.
Instead of issuing ultimatums and
threats to European nations and trying to increase the domestic consumption of
palm oil, Malaysia needs to prove to the world that oil palm can be grown and
produced responsibly and make a genuine contribution to the Malaysian
population and environment. A willingness to acknowledge the need to improve
and to make sincere and genuine efforts to protect the environment, wildlife
and human rights is a better indication of patriotism than merely a willingness
to consume more locally-produced palm oil.
WONG EE LYNN
MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY,
SELANGOR BRANCH
