Judul : Stop negative campaign on oil palm, Musa tells EU
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Stop negative campaign on oil palm, Musa tells EU
Sabah CM says negative campaign could affect global CPO prices, which in turn could impact smallholders whose livelihoods depend on palm oil.
Musa Aman (seated, right), receiving courtesy call from 14 European ambassadors led by EU ambassador to Malaysia Maria Costello Fernandez (seated, left).
PETALING JAYA: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman today called for a halt to the campaign against the palm oil industry by members of the European Union (EU), saying the state government had taken steps to ensure that the industry remained sustainable.
Speaking during a courtesy call by a delegation of EU ambassadors at Kota Kinabalu, he said the Sabah government had launched a programme in 2015 to have all crude palm oil produced in the state certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO).
Sabah also had the support of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as a guide in the CSPO process, he added.
“So I sincerely hope that the EU member countries can keep an open mind on this matter,” he said.
The RSPO is a not-for-profit organisation that unites stakeholders from oil palm producers, processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks/investors, and environmental and social NGOs, to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.
Malaysia has been ramping up its defence of the palm oil industry amid concerns on sustainability.
This followed a resolution passed by the EU in April, calling for tougher environmental standards for palm oil.
Bloomberg reported on Nov 20 that the European Parliament’s non-binding resolution had urged the bloc’s executive arm to step up efforts to prevent deforestation as a result of palm oil production.
Marcus Mojigoh, the vice-president of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Conference on Environment and Development (APPCED), said in October that Malaysia could lose as much as RM10 billion in exports, making up 15% of its total exports, if the resolution is passed.
The majority of Malaysia’s palm oil exported into the EU is used for biodiesel.
After India, the EU is Malaysia’s second-largest export market, accounting for 2,059,207 tonnes of palm oil products in 2016, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Board data. China is in third place.
Musa said it was unfortunate that some EU member countries had painted a negative image of the industry in an attempt to boycott it.
He said a negative campaign could affect global crude palm oil (CPO) prices, which in turn could impact smallholders whose livelihoods depend on palm oil.
“This could mean loss of income for them and their families,” he added.
According to Musa, Malaysia has 680,000 oil palm smallholders, 200,000 of whom are from Sabah, the country’s largest producer of CPO.
He said Sabah had one of the best forest management and environmental conservation practices in the region, with the state government gazetting 26% of its total land mass as totally protected areas (TPAs).
This exceeded the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) target of 10%, he added.
“We are actually targeting 30% or 2.2 million hectares which we are confident of achieving in the next five years, if not earlier.”
Likewise, Sabah had restored and planted forests well over 700,000 hectares, which was presumably the largest such undertaking in the tropics, he said.
“I must tell you the Sabah story on forest management so you can tell it to your European communities. Concerted efforts with concrete results are being made and this must be made known to the world.”
EU head in Malaysia, Maria Costello Fernandez, who was also present, told Musa there was no official boycott of the palm oil industry by EU member countries.
There was however a debate on the issue of palm oil and deforestation, she added.
“We want to reach out to the stakeholders in Malaysia and engage in a dialogue to better understand the industry so we can explain it to the European communities,” she said.
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