The aggregated tally of the petitions currently run by the pan-European coalition against the use of palm oil in biofuels is over 650,000 signatures.
The coalition is comprised of DUH, Nabu, Ecologistas en Acciòn, Les Amis de la Terre, Canopée, Legambiente, MilieuDefensie, ZERO, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, NOAH, CNCD, CETRI, Fian, WeMove.eu and change.org.
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Palm oil deforestation is getting worse, ravaging some of the planet’s remaining rainforests and our most precious wildlife.
But most people don’t know that 51% of all the palm oil imported into Europe goes into our cars. The EU subsidises it as a “green biodiesel”. Even though it’s actually three times worse for the climate than regular diesel because of the deforestation it causes.
On 1st February 2019 the European Commission can stop this madness. The EU Parliament had voted to stop promoting palm oil in biodiesel as a ‘green fuel’, but now it’s up to the European Commission to make it happen.
Tell the European Commission: No palm oil in my tank!
The EU has been under the thumb of biofuels lobbyists for years, subsidising the vegetable oil in biodiesel. It has disguised this destructive industry as an ‘eco’ option to replace fossil fuels, deceiving European drivers into burning, essentially, rainforests in their tank.
Millions of acres of rainforest have been destroyed -- replaced by huge palm oil plantations because of EU’s thirst for this vegetable oil.
Deprived of their natural habitat, orangutans starve. When they feed off palm fruits on plantations, they’re shot.
Burning up billions of litres of palm oil in vehicle tanks is escalating this crisis. And if we continue, soon orangutans, among the smartest and closest relatives of ours, will be extinct. And with them a vast array of species calling the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia home.
We can protect the orangutans, the rainforest, and its communities from palm oil destruction -- but we have to act now.
Tell the European Commission: No palm oil in my tank!
Last May, close to 100,000 Europeans pushed the EU to adopt a breakthrough law to stop subsidising food crops like palm oil in biodiesel that are a ‘high risk’ for the climate.
The agreed green energy law requires ‘high risk’ biofuels like palm oil to be phased out, transparency from oil companies on biofuels use, and puts an overall cap on biofuels produced from food crops.
But unless the European Commission carries out the decision, with a legal act, by February 1st 2019, biofuel lobbyists could pressure the EU to keep dirty palm oil in our tanks for many more years.
If we want the phase-out of palm biodiesel to become a reality, we need to make more noise than biofuels lobbyists.
Tell the European Commission: No palm oil in my tank!
The EU is being lobbied by the Indonesian and Malaysian governments and palm oil barons to continue subsidising palm oil biodiesel, or risk not signing trade deals with Europe.
That’s why Commission President Juncker, VP Timmermans and top Commissioners Cañete and Malmström need to hear from you, that you don’t want to be forced to burn palm oil in your car.
Tell them you do not want forests to be destroyed for cheap palm oil and ‘fake green-fuels’.
Tell the European Commission: No palm oil in my tank!
Europe’s thirst for cheap palm oil has fuelled the destruction of precious rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia for too long.
By next year, our campaign could ensure that subsidies are cut for palm oil based biodiesel after 2023. If Europe were to end support for palm oil biodiesel because of its environmental and climate damage it would send a powerful signal to world markets.
Together, we could reduce demand for dirty palm oil, and force palm oil producing countries to get serious about ending deforestation.
More information
The Guardian. 10 May 2018.
Transport & Environment. 6 June 2018.