Norway will become the first country in the world to prohibit the use of palm oil in biofuels, in order to halt deforestation in Southeast Asia.
The industrial cultivation of oil palms, from which the world's cheapest vegetable oil is derived — used in the production of food, cosmetics and detergents — has a terrible environmental impact. It is indeed one of the leading causes of the destruction of millions of hectares of primary forest, that is, the oldest and most biodiverse, in Southeast Asia, and of the consequent release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere. To counter the destruction of these great green lungs, from which the entire planet benefits, the Norwegian parliament has decided to ban the use of palm oil as a biofuel across the entire country from 2020.
With this measure, voted on just a few days ago, the Scandinavian nation will become the first country in the world to ban the use of palm oil as a biofuel, on account of its link to the destruction of rainforests. Last June, European institutions signed a similar agreement, but one that will not come into force until 2030, by which point, according to many environmental organisations, it will be too late.
"The decision of the Norwegian parliament sets an important example for other countries and underlines the need for a serious reform of the global palm oil industry," commented Nils Hermann Ranum of the nature conservation NGO Rainforest Foundation Norway (Rfn). While it is essential that similar initiatives be taken up by other nations, this is undoubtedly good news for Asian forests and for some of the most endangered creatures that inhabit them, such as orangutans, tigers and elephants.
Not only local biodiversity — we will all benefit from this ban. According to a 2017 report commissioned by Rfn, palm oil-based biofuels have a worse impact on the climate than fossil fuels, further accelerating climate change. "Substantial evidence indicates that, due to land-use change, biofuel derived from palm oil is worse for the climate than the fossil fuels it replaces," stated Chris Malins, the report's author.
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As far back as last year, coinciding with the peak in consumption of palm oil-based fuels in Norway, the majority of the Norwegian parliament had voted to prevent the government from purchasing fuels derived from this vegetable oil. However, as reported by the British newspaper The Independent, the government had preferred to rely on voluntary measures and the decision was never fully implemented. The new vote, though, should carry greater weight and finally convince the Norwegian government, as stated in the resolution tabled, to "exclude biofuels with a high risk of deforestation".
The Norwegian parliament's decision has raised concern in Indonesia, where palm oil exports account for around 12 per cent of the national economy. "Even if the impact on our exports will not be significant, it could influence other countries," said Fadhil Hasan, director for foreign affairs of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association.
