No such thing as sustainable palm oil? Yes, there is – in Malaysia

A worker collecting harvested palm oil fruit bunches using a bullock cart in Johor, Malaysia, in June 2020. The palm oil industry secures jobs for over five million people globally, mostly smallholder farmers. — Bloomberg

Last week (Sept 5, 2020), Italian scientist Roberto Gatti made headlines in Malaysia when he proclaimed that there is “no such thing as sustainable palm oil”. The only problem is that Mr Gatti is wrong.

Oil palm producers have for the last 15 years become the lightning rod for the public’s growing anger on issues relating to deforestation, global warming, subpar labour practices, and transboundary haze. Only a silent few have questioned these allegations, leading the vast majority of the public to swallow these headlines hook, line, and sinker and leaving the narrative unchallenged.