EU classifies palm oil biofuel as unsustainable

IN a landmark decision, the European Commission has acknowledged in a delegated act that oil palm cultivation causes significant deforestation, and thus biodiesel produced from palm oil cannot be counted towards meeting EU green fuel targets. However, under mounting pressure, including trade war threats, from the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia, the Commission has introduced several loopholes, including an exemption for additional palm oil produced in independent small plantations (less than five hectares) or produced on ‘unused’ land.

NGOs in Europe such as the federation of green transport NGOs, Transport & Environment (T&E), have condemned what it called “loopholes” in the pronouncement since they could mean Europe would keep using the same amount of palm oil in diesel that it does today. T&E in a release noted that the size of a plantation has no relation to the risk of deforestation or the changes in land use.

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The group further noted that small lots of land toiled by workers who sell to a single big mill controlled by corporations is the business model of palm oil giants like Malaysia’s FELDA/FGV, which produces more than half of its palm oil that way. Regarding ‘unused’ land, these areas may actually be currently used by local communities to support themselves or deliver important ecosystem services. Also, some of these areas may have been brought into production to meet the ever-increasing demand for food. Overall, the act doesn’t provide sufficiently robust criteria nor a proper monitoring and enforcement system, T&E noted.

The majority of key studies modelling emissions from indirect changes in the use of land (ILUC) show that palm oil has higher ILUC emissions than any other feedstocks for biodiesel, followed by soy oil. The Globiom study for the European Commission revealed that biodiesel from palm oil is three times worse for the climate than regular diesel while soy oil diesel is two times worse.

Laura Buffet, clean fuels manager of T&E, said: “The Commission sends an important signal by deciding that palm oil diesel is not sustainable.”

But it gives with one hand what it takes away with the other. You can’t label palm oil diesel as unsustainable, then open a loophole as big as the current consumption levels and think people won’t notice. This decision is arbitrary, breaks the mandate the Commission had gotten from ministers and  the European Parliament, and ignores the massive public support for ending the palm oil diesel nonsense.”

In June last year, the EU Parliament and national governments agreed to progressively phase out the use of the highest emitting biofuels or “high ILUC risk” biofuels by 2030. In a concession to palm oil producing nations the phase out will only start in 2023. Until then ‘high ILUC risk’ biofuels consumption cannot grow above each EU country’s 2019 consumption levels and should gradually decrease from 2023 onwards until reaching 0 per cent in 2030. Biofuels based on crops falling into the high ILUC risk category which can demonstrate they are “low ILUC risk” will not be phased out from the targets.

France has recently taken measures to eliminate palm oil from biofuels after 2020 and Norway has committed to end support to biofuels with a high risk of deforestation in 2020.