The trouble with it is that the cultivation of oil palm trees has caused massive enviromental harm, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for 85% of palm oil production in the world. The researchers have extracted edible oils from a common strain of microalgae that have similar properties to palm oil but contain fewer saturated fatty acids. At the same time, Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producer, is stepping up its plans to ship millions of tons of crude palm oil and its derivatives after a self-imposed three-week ban on exports in May to tackle domestic shortages. As the global market continues being flooded by palm oil, rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia remain at grave risk of being fragmented further. In order to give these remaining forests and their inhabitats a fighting chance at survival, we’ll need to find ecofriendly substitutes to palm oil as soon as possible.

Source: New York Times June 21, 2022 04:24 UTC