Ahh palm oil is one of THE WORST things for the planet! (RIP my nutella addiction) This comes specifically from where it is produced. Both above and below sea level Indonesia and the surrounding area (where most of the world's palm oil is produced) is THE MOST BIODIVERSE part of the WORLD. These forests are also one of the most important/efficient terrestrial carbon sinks but I digress. This means 1 acre of Indonesian forest cut down is WAY worse than 1 acre of land in say, Iowa being cleared for soy. If companies shifted production back to say west africa the environmental impact or palm oil would be significantly lessened but as it stands now it's not sustainable at all. Also I personally think the RSPO is BS at least in bothering to enforce any of their "standards". Sorry for the rant I'm real passionate about this lol
WOW what a good point!! It really is learning about how to farm sustainably and regeneratively! I agree, RSPO is very green wash-y and it's sad. No worries at all thanks for all the good info!!
Agree totally. Compliance with RSPO "standards" are totally voluntary. And with no compliance penalties, it's totally useless. It's just a front by the big palm oil growers to appear to be "sustainable" "green" etc. All greenwashing. When you do research on palm oil, you will see that these big corps have way more plans for palm oil beyond food. They are gearing up to do even more deforestation. Just don't use palm oil period. Or soy either as they both are major players in the deforestation in the Global South countries.
Agree with you. Demand for sustainable palm oil is so low that a) companies mix it with non-sustainable palm because it’s not selling and b) if there isn’t demand for sustainable oil, it doesn’t incentivize companies to spend more on producing it. So I’d suggest not a full ban but to try buy more sustainable to support it (at least).
Great video! Palm oil is such a tricky subject. I'm with you on that we need to be more mindful about how we consume it and put more pressure on RSPO to get them to be more transparent.
I live in palm oil country. 63% of the total land remain forested today. That leaves about 37% for human to settle on. Keeping our forest, yes we do good but the world wants us to do more. Just how much more when the world is not doing the same. To produce anything at all we need land. Land for rice, vegetables, cattle, housing, industries, roads and many more. Are the world telling us that it is ok for us to remain backward and poor to keep our forest for them ? The colonizers taught us all to plant. First rubber, then palm oil and cocoa from over a hundred years ago. They ripped lots of natural resources from the land, made profit for themselves and left in 1960's. For more than a hundred years our land were a jewel of the crown. Those were the time when there were no question of sustainability all the other BS. Yes the world sees that we take 37% land form the animals and we acknowledge that. We also need to feed ourselves, don't you think ? What damage that have been done with the 37% land that we took form the animals is today being corrected and rehabilitated in the best way we know. New cutting for new palm oil projects we hardly see it today. At least in a country where I live. We have the ability to listen too. I think the thirst and use of fossil energy is doing a lot worse damage that 37% land we took from the animals. Our forest and the Amazon forest are very similar and we are proud of our forest. Many animal and flora & fauna species found here are no where to be found elsewhere. Most of our aboriginal inhabitants still roam free in our forests and they are not being re-settled in reservations against their wishes.
It is seriously so heartbreaking to hear this. I wish I could do more but I will just keep encouraging others to reduce their consumption so that you can keep your precious forest
I like your video, pretty fair. Yes, do not ban the crop because it is the most sustainable oil producing crop we have right now. Instead, push for better practices in the industry that would do the most good for now and while the current protests and boycotting have been good in pushing for change I would say its not the most effective. Invest in it, invest in these palm oil producing countries, help facilitate more research for better farming methods that will increase output and minimise destruction. E.g did you know that close to 30% of palm oil is actually wasted due to lack of manpower (older trees need more effort to harvest due to height)? There are no automatic harvesting methods and only research on this is being funded by the developing countries themselves who lack an incentive to fund them as they are developing and concentrating on other areas of their country. Some locals also argue that its unfair that the first world who are the main culprits behind our current global warming crisis with their centuries of wars, colonisation, industralisation and deforestation are now just sitting there enjoying their developed resources and dictating what we can and cannot do to catch up to them. Some even propose that the first world should pay us a forest tax. We maintain our forests for the sake of the world and you pay us a tax for doing so, we would then be incentivised to grow less destructive industries and retain or recover our more of our forests. I think its a pretty good idea, I mean why can't farmers near the equator exercise their right to use their land like how a farmer in a western country can? I believe Norway attempted this with Brazil but the deal fell through. Just some food for thought. Also, 50% of the current output of palm oil isn't for consumer goods and foods but for biofuel purposes. Good on the world for attempting to switch away from fossil fuels but ultimately reducing consumption on heavy transport would be more effective than not buying that nutella you secretly crave. Alot of local growers here were struggling since the EU banned palm oil as biofuel but suddenly became rich overnight thanks to the russian-ukraine war. Just some food for thought on what is really detrimental here.
Great and important work of yours! I’m getting upset about RSPO for approx. 6 years now because I really think it’s greenwashing. Thanks for going into detail here. Most people skip that part but actually this is where we consumers are getting fooled. I really hope for a stronger palm oil label in near future that really is committed in enforcing their principles.
I think I will continue to stick with canola (rapeseed) oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, or peanut oil whenever possible as I live in the Midwest US. Canola and soy because they are grown locally (literally on the road I live on) in rotation with wheat, corn, and other local crops. It is refined and packaged within about 300-400 miles. Not overseas. Which is where palm and olive oil would be coming from for me. Also they land is not being deforested for their fields. Cottonseed (rather rare to find except as an ingredient) because it is a byproduct of cotton production, also local (without irrigation.) Peanut oil is also a suitable and more sustainable choice for myself too as it is grown just south of here. Obviously these choices would be different if I lived in Europe (then likely olive oil which I do not use) or Southeast Asia (then coconut oil which I do use either.) Also heart health wise coconut oil is off the list.
It's very smart for us all to think about where we live in relation to the things we consume, especially the eco-detrimental oils! Great points, Lynn! I haven't heard about heart health with coconut oil! Do you have any sources I can check out? I use a lot of it...
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist coconut oil is very, very high in saturated fat. Hence why it is a solid unless it is fairly warm. Of the 14 g of fat per tablespoon 13 g are saturated fat. As opposed to say soybean oil which is 2 g saturated fat. Saturated fat is not heart healthy (it affects blood cholesterol levels) per both my partner’s cardiologist and my internist.
Thank you for this video. It lead me to do deeper searching. I'm a soap maker, but shy away from Palm Oil, however it producing some of the best lather and moisturizing qualities. With that said I will continue with my research and again thank you for the video.
Actually: 1_Malaysia and Indonia are the main palm oil producer. In both states (along with the voluntary RSPO system) there are mandatory certifications (MSPO and ISPO). Deforestation of primary forests and peatland is no longer possible. All the deforestation is illegal (some still occur of course) 2_the 8 Principles are vague of course.. but there are also CRITERIAS which are openly available on the RSPO website and are much more articulated, There is no much interpretation there. 3_cutting down forest is not a suggestion. Any deforestation after 2008 is not allowed and can not get certified. 4_ boicotting Palm oil in Europe will lead the producer to favorite other markets such as China and India (the main consumers after Europe) which are not really concerned with sustainability. I have been in palm oil plantations back in 2013 and again in 2019...and the environmental conditions as well as the leaving conditions where extremely improved..I beleive RSPO certification was part of the reason The problem is indeed consumerism.. Besides I do not really understand all this attention to palm oil..deforetation due to palm oil is really a matter of the 90's. 30 years later people are concern about an old problem and not with the real deforestation which is still happening in South America
very cool to hear accounts first hand, thanks so much for sharing your story! I think it's great that conditions for workers and the environment are improving. Well said!
I hate to say, even palm oil produced on the deforestation land, but switch with other oil is worst than palm. So palm is still the best choice to reduce deforestation to fulfil of human greedy.
LoL, I came here because I was also suspicious of the RSPO standards I had read on their website after buying "Palmin" in search for a healthier margarine. It only consists of palm, coconut, sunflower oil and... air (uh-huh O.o). Yes, air is actually declared as an ingredient. But that's it. No other ingredients. According to your findings this is still the healthiest and most sustainable spread, I guess.. Even though that means it's probably far from green. In a "kurz gesagt - in a nutshell" I heard that complete global sustainabilty can hardly be achieved by individuals due to their small impact and is largely a political concern. Now, with all the green washing even the small impact the comsumer COULD have, is diminished. All we can really do, if we don't have the time to dive that deeply into EVERY topic, are the setting of standards for ourselves - consume less and less and less. Become your most minimalistic self, like you mentioned (thank you for that!) - Buy goods used whenever you can - support green parties and their efforts as best you can - try to compare products you use regularly to reduce your impact (this is the toughest one of course) Thank you! :)
Good video, but you seem to forget some things from local people's perspective. For example in Indonesia a lot of local people depend on their work on the palm plantation, so by abandoning palm oil these people lose their jobs. Also the thing with sustainable palm oil is that the cutting down of forests is prevented. Soildepletion is prevented which result that the plantation does not have to move to another area :)
this is a common argument and while it is correct, the labor is unethical. We (being wealthy nations) come in, destroy their land, and don't even pay fair wages all while increasing deforestation, habitat and species loss, pollution, etc
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist you don't really sound like you believe more and more palm plantations are becoming more sustainable every year? By becoming sustainable, the plantations don't have the need to move every few years and cut down more forest for their new location. Palmoil is not the problem, it's the way of producing that is bad. But more and more palm producers are aware of the criticism and willing to change course. I might sound very naive, but this is my field of study and I have spoken to a lot of locals in Indonesia and Malaysia. There are still plantations which use harmful chemicals, but there are also loads of plantations which use chemicals which aren't harmful to the employees, and have better land & water management
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist have you seen the stats of removal of rainforest? That is declining quite fast last year's! And you are just denying plantations are not becoming more sustainable?
Yeah, palm oil is the new soy. Do you think that RSPO palm oil is really sustainable or not completely ensured? I wonder if I should stop buying Sappo Hill soap since it's made with RSPO palm oil.
It's interesting. I don't think it's 100% good. It has it's flaws like I discussed throughout (watch all the way through if you haven't). But, some certification is better than none. I think RSPO is better but maybe another oil is best. It's tricky!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist Interesting video, I agree, we need to make sacrifices such as actually reading a standard before passing judgment and calling it vague. Here is the standard with the details you said you wanted to see, it is online rspo.org/library/lib_files/preview/1079
One have to do some qualified research, choose wich brand to buy from with care - and consume less. Well, that just some of the things that an average consumer can do. Also ‘raise voice with the wallet’
I didn't realize palm trees produced the most oil in comparison to other options. With that being considered, I don't think it is as bad as I thought it was before. Not saying that it is good, but I can see why it is in mass production when you consider "bang for your buck". I do think more could be done to increase sustainability, because it doesn't sound like anything is being done at all. Did you consider reaching out to get more information about the RSPO? I would be curious if there is more to it than what is presented to the public.
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist I heared about it for the first time three years ago and I thought it sounded pretty awesome. From what I understand it's essentially multi layered farming. For example: You plant maroon trees for flour and other maroon products, on that very same patch of land underneath the trees you plant brushes for berries and than you also keep sheep there for weed control, wool and milk. The idea is to be as land efficient as possible, to create systems that need a minimal amount of artificial intervention in form of chemical fertilizers and such and to get away from monoculture farming. I would love to support projects like that. However there aren't any. The reason for that it threefold. 1 not many people know about it. 2 planting such fields is a long term investment and a financial gamble. And 3 at least here in Germany land use is heavyly regulated. There are dedicated areas for industry, housing, farming and forestry and getting mixed use permits is virtually impossible. The only thing I can do right now is talk about it and spred the idea.
YES Love that you made this video!! A palm oil video was one of the first ones on my list of videos to make when I created my channel, then it never happened🤣 you know how it goes😝 So I loved this, and it's great that you covered all aspects of palm oil👏
