Palm oil: the hidden ingredient causing an ecological disaster
14th March, 2012 Palm oil is in our food, cleaning products and
fuel. But it's destroying rainforest and contributing to climate
change. Sustainable certification schemes have been set up, but
campaigners increasingly question whether they work It’s
impossible to get away from palm oil. Over the last few days you
have eaten it, rubbed it into your skin, put it in your car or
fed it to your pets. It is found in a staggering array of
household products, including processed food, cosmetics, soap
and shampoos, and it’s a key ingredient in lubricants, paints,
pesticides and biofuels. Yet palm oil is also responsible for
some of the most destructive deforestation of current times, and
its production is contributing to climate change. Demand for
palm oil has doubled in the last decade, and is predicted to
double again by 2020, driven by consumer demand for the
foodstuffs, cosmetics and fuels derived from the versatile
lipid. But to supply this demand, hu