CARL Bek-Nielsen, an oil palm planter, has urged critics not to punish an entire industry in light of allegations of malpractice, rampant deforestation, annual smoke problem and claims in The New York Times piece on an orangutan shot 74 times and left to die in Indonesia.

The chief executive director of the listed United Plantations told Bloomberg that while there are indeed “rogue players” and “bad practices”, these should not be the basis for calls to boycott or ban the world’s most popular vegetable oil.

“There are bad practices out there. Go after those who are not doing it well, but also stop this nonsense about making blanket statements about the entire industry and giving people the insinuation or the belief that the entire industry is into malpractices, and the entire industry is killing orangutans,” the Dane told the business portal, whose reporters visited UP’s Jendarata estate near Hutan Melintang, Perak.

The way forward, said Bek-Nielsen, is for both producers and buyers to commit to sustainability,  supporting those in the industry cleaning up their act and working towards the goal of sustainable palm oil.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a voluntary standards body with more than 4,000 members worldwide, is committed to 100% to sustainable palm oil, he said, while certifying only a fifth of the world’s palm oil as sustainable.

Consumers and civil society organisations are spearheading campaigns to boycott palm oil, stepping up pressure on consumer-goods manufacturers to stop using the oil.

But the task is almost impossible as palm oil is used from ice cream to instant ramen, toothpaste to lipstick, and biofuels.

The European Union also plans to restrict the use of palm oil as biofuel, a move it denies is a ban but one based on Renewable Energy Directive II (EU RED II) to disqualify palm oil-based biofuels for financial incentives that will make it more competitive compared with other biofuels.

Malaysia and Indonesia now produce 85% of the world’s supply of palm oil and by 2022, the global market is expected to reach US$88 billion (RM370 billion).

“There has never been a wild orangutan in the whole of Peninsular Malaysia right up to Bangkok,” Bek-Nielsen was quoted as saying “but yet we are painted with the same brush”, adding that sustainable palm oil can only be produced if there is demand for it. – December 17, 2019.