Olio di palma: gli esperti, “Più che boicottare meglio certificare”
(Adnkronos) - L’olio di palma è l’olio vegetale più utilizzato al mondo ma la coltivazione della palma da olio occupa meno del 10% delle terre utilizzate per la coltivazione di oleaginose. Troppo spesso però questo prodotto è stato oggetto di boicottaggi e contestazioni. Sempre di più tanto la scienza quanto le Ong concordano sul fatto che il boicottaggio dell'olio di palma sposterebbe semplicemente i problemi altrove e che la migliore alternativa all'olio di palma è l'olio di palma certificato sostenibile e deforestazione-free
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:12 Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world.
00:15 Recently, the European Union introduced a new law against deforestation
00:20 that prohibits the import and export of products that have caused deforestation or degradation of forests.
00:27 We absolutely agree with what Europe is proposing,
00:32 but we only want to highlight the risks associated with the real impossibility
00:36 of small farmers or their cooperatives to respect the time provided
00:42 for the implementation of certification instruments,
00:45 for example geolocalization or some bureaucratic forms
00:49 that in those countries are obviously not easy to obtain.
00:53 It is therefore necessary that the European Union, but also local governments,
00:57 support them both technically and economically,
01:01 and that the European Union gives them a more appropriate timing to their current needs.
01:07 Otherwise, their production may be cut off from the sustainable supply chains
01:13 of European companies in the due diligence phase.
01:16 Palm oil also has characteristics that make it not easily replaceable with other oils.
01:22 Palm oil, compared to all the other oils it can be compared with,
01:26 especially for food, so we are mainly talking about soy,
01:30 colza and sunflower oil globally,
01:33 has a great advantage over these alternative oils,
01:37 and that is to have a great yield.
01:39 What does it mean to have a great yield?
01:41 It means that at the same surface level it is cultivated to produce oils,
01:44 oils that can be used for food.
01:47 Palm oil produces a lot more quantity,
01:52 this means that there is probably a greater efficiency.
01:56 The campaign for "No Palm Oil" was strong,
02:02 it was certainly the strongest in terms of an ingredient contained within a product.
02:10 Then, given the success of this initiative, linked to bad information,
02:18 there was obviously the gluten-free boom,
02:22 also for those who do not need to consume gluten-free products,
02:26 rather than without added sugars, without any type,
02:31 because now a positive connotation is attributed to the label "no".
02:36 More and more, both science and NGOs agree on the fact that boycotting palm oil
02:42 would simply expose the problems elsewhere,
02:45 and that the best alternative is sustainable certified palm oil and deforestation-free.
02:51 For WWF, boycotting is not the most effective solution,
02:55 just a few numbers are enough.
02:56 Palm oil is the oil that uses 4 to 10 times less soil than other oils,
03:04 so it is the most efficient oil.
03:06 If the production of palm oil decreases,
03:09 the impacts would simply be moved elsewhere,
03:13 in other value chains that are less efficient in production,
03:17 with consequences that could be even greater overall.
03:21 Therefore, to face the challenges we face today,
03:25 it is necessary to encourage a sustainable production of palm oil
03:30 throughout the value chain.
03:33 It is important to remember, however,
03:35 that the phenomenon of deforestation is not only related to palm oil,
03:40 but to the production of many international agricultural commodities,
03:44 for example many other oil-aginous crops.
03:47 Therefore, the certification of sustainability should concern all those oils
03:51 that are produced in many sensitive parts of the planet.
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