Ben Martin

14th March, 2012

É impossível fugirmos do óleo de palma. Nos últimos dias nós o ingerimos, passamos sobre nossa pele, abastecemos nosso carro e alimentamos nossos animais domésticos com ele. É encontrado em espantosa variedade de produtos domésticos, incluindo alimentos processados, cosméticos, sopas e xampus. Além disso, é o ingrediente chave em lubrificantes, tintas, agrotóxicos e biocombustíveis. E ainda está sendo também responsável por, sem dúvida, um dos maiores desmatamentos destrutivos dos tempos atuais. Sua produção também está contribuindo para as mudanças climáticas.

A demanda por óleo de palma dobrou na última década e está previsto sua duplicação novamente por 2020, em razão da demanda de consumi-lo como fonte alimentícia, para cosméticos e combustíveis e como derivado de fonte lipídica versátil. Mas para suprir esta demanda, imensas áreas de florestas tropicais estão sendo abertas para se ter espaços para as monoculturas de palmas. A média tem sido de mais de dois milhões de hectares por ano, de acordo com a ONG  Friends of the Earth. Estas áreas de floresta tropical são os últimos habitats remanescentes de animais ameaçados como o tigre da Sumatra, o rinoceronte asiático e o orangotango. E o que é pior, muitas destas florestas estão localizadas sobre turfas – sumidouros de carbono natural que contém grandes reservas de gases de efeito estufa. Os produtores de palma, pela queimada que fazem das copas da floresta e pela drenagem da turfa, inadvertidamente liberam este carbono estocado para a atmosfera. O Greenpeace vem advertindo de que a destruição das turfeiras na província de Riau na Indonésia poderá, só ela, liberar 14,6 gigatoneladas de carbono para a atmosfera – o equivalente à liberação de um ano de toda a emissão global. A demanda por óleo de palma está somente acelerando o processo e não há mostras de parar.

Muita desta demanda vem dos produtores de biocombustíveis que defendem ser o óleo de palma uma fonte barata de energia renovável e com potencial de substituir os combustíveis fósseis. Mas de acordo com Kenneth Richter do Friends of the Earth, eles não levam em conta a liberação dos gases de efeito estufa gerados pelo desmatamento. ‘Todas as últimas pesquisas sugerem que sobretudo, os biocombustíveis feitos a partir do óleo de palma, na verdade não reduzem as emissões quando comparados com os combustíveis fósseis'.  Pior ainda, uma avaliação de impacto da União Européia,  recentemente vazada, descobriu que, quando as emissões do desmatamento são contabilizadas, a produção de biodiesel de óleo de palma, na verdade, emite mais carbono do que o óleo bruto.

Em anos recentes, a indústria vem começando a tentar limpar seus atos e reduzir o desmatamento. A Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil/RSPO (nt.: Mesa Redonda sobre Óleo de Palma Sustentável) foi fundada em 2004, com o objetivo de encorajar a produção ambientalmente consciente através da certificação verde das plantações como sutentáveis. ‘No ano passado, 7% de toda a produção global foi certificada como sustentável', apontou o especialista em certificação Bob Norman. ‘Penso que é uma boa coisa para ser um ponto de partida. Pode haver uma questão sobre ritmo, mas não há um botão mágico que possa ser acionado para termos o óleo de palma instantaneamente sustentável'.

Varejistas e super-mercadistas também estão começando a acordar quanto aos perigos do óleo de palma, como esclarecem o ativista Adam Harrison do WWF e representante na RSPO. ‘No reino Unido, quase todos os grandes varejistas estão inclinados e empregar 100% do óleo de palma para todos as suas marcas até 2015'.  A WWF publica um boletim de sustentabilidade (sustainability scorecard), onde os produtores e varejistas de mercadorias feitas com base no óleo de palma são avaliados quanto ao seu compromisso para usar a certificação – CSPO (nt.: Certified Sustainable Palm Oil – Óleo de Palma Certificado com Sustentável). Muitas das maiores redes de supermercados gravaram altas marcas no relatório de 2011. Mas ainda há trabalho a ser feito. ‘Supermercados não estão lidando com as marcas de terceiros que eles vendem', continua Harrison. ‘Companhias como a Northern Foods, que são enormes varejistas que processam e embalam alimentos para Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's e Tesco, tiveram desempenho surpreendemente pobre – simplesmente não imputaram o trabalho braçal'.

EAD MORE…
	GREEN LIVING Eco cement: the world's favourite building material gets a green-over Cement manufacturers are among the world's biggest polluters and produce more emissions per capita than aviation. So how can you ensure that the cement you use isn't wrecking the planet?
	GREEN LIVING How to…make recycled art Upcycling is one of 2012's hottest design trends but you don't have to stop at furniture. If you're looking for some decorative inspiration, get to grips with our guide to making your own eco-fabulous art
	GREEN LIVING Shipping containers: could they tackle the housing crisis for a growing population? With bricks and mortar proving environmentally unsustainable, a dearth of affordable housing available, and charity Shelter maintaining that homelessness persists, could shipping containers be a solution?
	GREEN LIVING How to… buy vintage homeware Real vintage not only adds character to your home; by diverting furniture away from landfill, it does the planet a favour too. Here's how to get stuck in
	GREEN LIVING Green Business: Ecotricity It's the biggest green energy company in the UK but that's not enough for founder, Dale Vince. The next step, he tells Peter Salisbury, is to take on the ‘big six' energy companies and show us all that renewables are the way forward

 

Previous Articles…

 

| Comment | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email a Friend | Print this

Users Comments

Re: Palm oil: the hidden ingredient causing an ecological disaster Posted By PalmOilTruth 1 March 15, 2012 02:15:02 AM Friends of the Earth Malaysia and Greenpeace have been getting away with blunderbuss attacks on palm oil in recent years. It was Coleridge who observed: “Every reform, however necessary, will by weak minds be carried to an excess, that itself will need reforming.” Conservation and good environmental practices are accepted and encouraged by all and no doubt, by the palm oil industry. However, it is the excesses of the green movement which regularly traffic in crisis creation vis a vis palm oil and in the process, have gulled the media into believing their half truths, equivocations and outright lies which need reforming, in the infinite wisdom of Coleridge! In any industry there will be isolated cases of rule infringement and violation of the spirit and letter of the law. However these green groups with their predatory sense of opportunism, appears ever ready to pounce on the slightest environmental infraction by a trifling and insignificant number of recalcitrant planters and try to paint a picture of systemic and industry wide abuse! For a commodity that is probably inherently the most sustainable which is cultivated on only 0.023% of the world's agricultural lands to come under such concerted attack by the green movement is indeed laughable! It should be observed that Greenpeace and the Friends of the Earth have at their disposal annual funds in excess of US$300 Million. If there is a single murky thread linking the roiling cauldron of palm oil issues raised by green groups and their financial committees, it is the seemingly insatiable appetite for funds! Why, a recent report by researchers Caroline Boin and Andrea Marchesetti entitled “Friends of the EU,” (see: policynetwork.net/accountability/publication/friends-eu) showed that the EU, through its Environmental Directorate and Commission is involved in funding up to 70% of the operating budgets of FOE EU. By a strange coincidence, FOE's attacks against palm oil began soon after the transfer of funds! From 1998 to 2009, there was a substantial increase in funds given by the Commission to environmental groups: from 72,337,924 Euros (1998) to 78,749,940 Euros (2009) –an average increase of 13% every year. During this period, the EU's funding of FOE EU increased by 325% and WWF European Policy Office by 270%! It is no coincidence that the EU has large rapeseed and sunflower oil industries to protect! As early as 2005, the curiously named Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) published a “report” called “Cruel Oil: How palm oil harms health, rainforest and wildlife.” This report was prepared with the assistance of Aid Environment listed as partners with Hivos — a Netherlands based civil society group with direct links to campaigns in Indonesia. Hivos, in turn, is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for close to 66% of its massive annual 100 Million Euro budget.

Re: Palm oil: the hidden ingredient causing an ecological disaster Posted By OrangutansSOS 1 March 15, 2012 12:38:30 PM Following the Clear Labels, Not Forests campaign launched by a coalition of conservation organisations last year, t EU has adopted a new law which will require the labelling of specific vegetable oils on food products. This means that palm oil will no longer be a hidden ingredient. The new EU regulation will support vital changes in the palm oil industry by encouraging companies to shift to sustainable sources of the ingredient and finally allow shoppers to make informed choices about what they buy. The new rules requiring all vegetable oils to be labelled individually will come into force in 2015. Find our more at http://www.orangutans-sos.org/campaigns/clear_labels_not_forests

Re: Palm oil: the hidden ingredient causing an ecological disaster Posted By AbuSharif 1 March 15, 2012 02:06:12 PM Two points: Didn't you get that WWF is completely “out”? After German TV reports and corresponding investigation, the PANDA's reputation is doswn to zero, which mens one cannot just quote them, because of their heavy cooperation with and integration to harmful industry interests. Check it on the internet! The palm oil planters here in Nicaragua argue that they do their thing on grassland, which was deforested decades ago, so they produce “forest”, fixing carbondioxide! Therefore two other consequences of palm oil should always be mentioned: they drive small farmers off their land (to the slums or to the protected natural reserves), and they heavily poison rivers, canyons, subsoil water and their woorkers; plus all the negative aspects of big mono cultures.

Re: Palm oil: the hidden ingredient causing an ecological disaster Posted By jrlatham 1 March 15, 2012 03:30:58 PM More on why agribusiness partnering with WWF etc makes things worse: http://independentsciencenews.org/environment/way-beyond-greenwashing-have-multinationals-captured-big-conservation/