Nature Alert: Dutch to deny palm subsidies until green levels met

Monday, 10 December 2007

Dutch to deny palm subsidies until green levels met

Dutch to deny palm subsidies until green levels met

Reuters Monday December 10 2007
By Niluksi Koswanage

CAREY ISLAND, Malaysia, Dec 10 (Reuters) -

The Netherlands warned on Monday it will not renew subsidies for palm-based biofuel until global producers meet its environmental requirements.

The world's biggest palm-oil producers, including Malaysia and Indonesia, may take about two years to meet the needed levels, Dutch Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer said, following a meeting with Malaysian Commodities Minister Peter Chin.

The Netherlands, the largest consumer of palm oil in the European Union, will renew its subsidy system for green energy next year, but will mandate stringent criteria to help limit environmental damage.

The Netherlands fears the destruction of tropical forests for palm oil cultivation will increase greenhouse gas emissions, worsen plant loss and reduce animal diversity.

"Until the problems are solved, there will be no subsidy for palm oil," Cramer told reporters at Carey Island palm estates, some 100 km from Kuala Lumpur.

"We hope to solve the problem in two years."
Global demand for biofuels has soared as countries look for alternatives to fossil fuels to fight climate change and solve energy security problems.

"It makes no sense to use palm oil for bio-energy purposes while the carbon dioxide produced is more than what we are actually trying to save, particularly when you cut down peatforests," she said.

The Netherlands is particularly vulnerable to climate change fuelled by carbon-dioxide emissions as two-thirds of its territory lie below sea level.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.