It is palm oil giants, environmentalists for now at least

Palm Oil Fruit - Wikimedia Commons.

Samantha Ho - Eco-Business

Last week, Europe moved to postpone a landmark law meant to tackle commodity-related forest loss, a decision that most saw as a submission to pressure from governments in countries that sell food and forestry products to the European Union market. The EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, has divided the palm oil industry in Indonesia and Malaysia. Big producers and lobby groups welcomed the 12-month delay, while smallholders and sustainable palm oil associations said they would have been ready to comply with the original deadline of end-2024 anyway. 

Environmental advocates are against the decision, with one group calling it an “act of nature vandalism”. They ask: why is the EU not resolute enough to stand by what is right and not stall action to protect the world's forests?