17.02.2011

Palm oil: EU shall take care of transparency

The palm oil market booms, and it will boom in future. But the purchasing countries have to react, if they do not want the consequences to be devastating for the environment and the people living from it. This is the outcome of a study the German "Südwind" (southwind) institute carried out on the behalf of the UEM and Bread for the world. "We expect a further rapid growth in palm oil production within th next years", Friedel Hütz-Adams said, the author of the study. The popularity is high, as palm oil promises high profits and can be used for various products such asfood, cosmetics, paints or fuels. Especially in India and China more and more palm oil is used in the food industry. The problems are already clearly visible: Rain forest is cut and burnt down for setting up plantations, particularly in Indonesia. This fuels the climate change, kills rare plants and animals and destroys the livelihood of people. Especially indeginous people are dislodged, Dr Jochen Motte says, UEM's executive secretary for justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Protecting human rights is often pushed into the background because of economic interests. A certification of the palm oil production and a EU-wide advocating of a sustainable production is now needed, the initiators of the study said. "Europe may only consume only a seventh of the world wide palm oil production, but that share is a significant one."