Why is this important?

***UPDATE***

In June 2019, the EU Parliament passed a Delegated Act to restrict and ban some palm oil in diesel. This follows from the EU Commission decision in March 2019 that palm oil is not a green fuel and should not be promoted because it causes deforestation. The use of palm oil in diesel, will be gradually reduced as of 2023 to disappear from biodiesel in 2030. It will offer much needed relief to the world’s wildlife, especially orangutans.

However, this is only a partial victory since soy and some palm oil can still be labelled ‘green’. The No Palm Oil in my Tank campaign is not over. With partners leading the way, we’ll try to fight those governments and oil companies that want to keep forcing drivers to pay for fake ‘green’ fuels.

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The expansion of palm oil plantations destroys some of the planet’s remaining rainforests and kills orangutans. You may not be aware that most palm oil in Europe is actually used for diesel. [1]

The EU subsidises it as “green biodiesel” even though it’s actually three times worse for climate change than regular diesel because of the deforestation it causes. [2] Large areas of forests in Southeast Asia are being cut down to make room for crops like palm or soybean oil. In turn, tons of carbon dioxide gets released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and making the region warmer.

As millions of acres of rainforests are destroyed, orangutans are deprived of their natural habitat and starve. Many are shot when they try to feed off palm fruits on plantations. [3] Because of deforestation due to palm oil production, the population of orangutans has decreased by approximately 50 percent. [4]

The good news is that the EU has a chance to stop deforestation from palm oil production and help save orangutans. Last year, the EU Parliament voted to stop subsidising crops like palm oil in diesel. The vote aims to gradually decrease and phase out the use of “high risk” fuels like palm oil in the EU by 2030. But to make this happen, the European Commission needs to implement this decision with a legal act by February 1, 2019.

All over Europe, we need to make our voices heard by the Commission to ensure that we no longer burn palm oil in cars, destroying our forests, contributing to climate change, and killing orangutans. We can protect the orangutans and the rainforest from palm oil destruction - but we have to act now. Time is running out! If the Commission does not carry out the commitments made by the EU parliament by February 1, 2019, orangutans may soon become extinct and more of our rainforests will be gone.

For years, the EU has bowed to the pressure of biofuel lobbyists labelling and then subsidised palm oil diesel as a ‘green fuel’. [5] In the coming weeks, they will continue to put pressure on the EU to keep and continue to subsidise dirty palm oil in our tanks for many more years.

Together, we need to let the Commission know that our voices are stronger than the biofuel lobbyists and that we will not allow our forests to be destroyed and orangutans to die for cheap palm oil and ‘fake green fuels’.

References:

1. https://www.transportenvironment.org/publications/smoke-europe%E2%80%99s-cars-driving-deforestation-south-east-asia
2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/14/eu-green-transport-target-may-have-increased-greenhouse-gas-emissions
3. https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/orangutan-found-shot-hacked-at-palm-plantation-with-history-of-deaths/
4. http://www.orangutan.com/threats-to-orangutans/

In partnership with:

DUH and Nabu in Germany, Ecologistas en Acciòn in Spain, Friends of the Earth and Canopée in France, Legambiente in Italy, Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands, ZERO in Portugal, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation in Sweden, NOAH in Denmark, CNCD, Oxfam, CETRI and Fian in Belgium and campaign platforms Sum of Us, and German change.org