Unmask Palm Oil

By Ben Dowdle, Campaign Director, Unmask Palm Oil
June 2014
Palm Oil is the controversial product that is estimated to be in half of all supermarket products. It is a vegetable oil produced in South East Asia that is highly versatile and very cheap leading it to be used in everything from processed foods to cosmetics, candles, plastics and shampoos.

You would be forgiven for being oblivious to the widespread use of the product because weak Australasian labelling laws allow palm oil to be labelled as any one of 200 different scientific names or generically as vegetable oil. Unmask Palm Oil is the campaign that has set out to change this through mandatory labelling of palm oil on food products.

But why do people care if it is in their products? The palm oil industry has wreaked social and environmental havoc across South East Asia. The industry has grown from almost nothing, to an industry with an annual production in excess of 40 million tonnes. This rampant growth in the industry has had some positive economic benefits, primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia but a large portion of this economic growth has come at the cost of virgin rainforest. It is estimated one in two new plantations come about as a result of deforestation.

The impacts of this deforestation are many. Indigenous communities are often forced off their land by large companies, carbon emissions from the burning of rainforests reach nearly two billion tonnes a year from Indonesia alone and this smoke causes severe smog and subsequent health problems across South East Asia. The most widely known impact is the impact on wildlife, vibrant ecosystems are destroyed pushing species like the orangutan, elephant, rhino and tiger to the edge of extinction.

It is important to make it very clear that not all palm oil is bad, the industry can become environmentally friendly and some parts of it already are. This is why Unmask Palm Oil encourages consumers to demand Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) which is palm oil that is bringing the same economic benefits but which hasn’t come at the cost of deforestation. Given that palm oil is up to ten times more productive than other vegetable oils it is our view that a palm oil boycott would have adverse impacts across the world.

Given our current Australasian labelling laws allow for the generic labelling of vegetable oils this means consumers are relatively powerless to make simple ethical choices at the point of sale. Unmask Palm Oil believes that labelling is an effective tool in making palm oil supply chains more sustainable giving consumers the power to demand that companies only use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).

It is a simple policy change. The United States is already doing it and the European Union is bringing it in from December. It creates a level playing field for companies and gives consumers choice.

Unmask Palm Oil has been campaigning on this issue for three years and has recently expanded into Australia. The campaign is building up towards a meeting of 10 Ministers next year which will determine whether mandatory labelling of palm oil will go out for public consultation.

Last year, the campaign presented a 7500 strong petition to parliament, ran 5 volunteer workshops, presented to nearly 4000 people and lobbied for the support of the Green Party, New Zealand First and the Maori Party.

2014 is set to be a big year for us as we work towards securing the support of all ten Australian and New Zealand Ministers that will be voting in May 2015. We have recently finalised a partnership with Wellington Zoo and we hope to secure the support of a lot more organisations. It is now up to everyday consumers to join us in demanding transparent labelling of palm oil.

For more information or to donate to Unmask Palm Oil head to www.unmaskpalmoil.com Keep up with the campaign on Facebook (‘Unmask Palm Oil Demand Labelling’), Instagram and Twitter (@unmaskpalmoil)

The Australasian campaign for mandatory palm oil labelling on all products. http://www.unmaskpalmoil.com/#sthash.2MJz79uN.dpuf

For information about food products

Auckland Zoo - Palm oil-free shopping guide
Zoos Victoria Zoopermarket provides a simple snapshot of a range of common products containing palm oil.