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Article

14 Feb 2018

Author:
Chris Malins, Cerulogy & Rainforest Foundation Norway

Report highlights link between growing biofuel demand & deforestation

"Driving deforestation", Jan 2018

...Increasing demand for palm oil is a problem because palm oil expansion in Indonesia and Malaysia is currently endemically associated with deforestation and peat destruction...Approaching 2020, the future of biofuel policy is at a potential inflection point...Targets have been set by several countries, and by the aviation industry, that could lead to a significant increase in palm oil demand in the decade from 2020 to 2030...

...This report looks at the current demand and potential 2030 demand for palm oil from biofuel policies in key countries and in the aviation industry. It presents low, medium and high scenarios for the role of 2030 biofuel production in increasing demand for palm oil, and based on these scenarios presents estimates of the likely impact of this biofuel demand on palm-oil related tropical deforestation and destruction of peatlands...

...Beyond the climate impact of this scale of land use change, palm oil expansion is disastrous for biodiversity, and increases susceptibility of tropical landscapes to forest fires that are responsible through air pollution for enormous additional CO2 emissions and for tens of thousands of annual deaths. There are also serious social issues associated with the palm oil industry, including poor working conditions and repeated conflicts with indigenous communities over land rights...[refers to Eni, Neste & Pertamina]