Mark,

Palm oil deforestation is an environmental catastrophe in Asia, but most people don’t know that the EU subsidises palm oil as a “green biodiesel”.

Even though it’s THREE TIMES worse for the climate than regular diesel because of the rainforest destruction it causes.

Europe has two months to stop this. In February it could outlaw palm oil in biodiesel, but we’re up against the huge palm oil lobby that wants to keep its lucrative subsidies.

Sign the petition to tell the EU: No rainforests in my tank! Stop subsidising palm oil biodiesel.

The EU has been under the thumb of palm oil lobbyists for years, disguising this destructive industry as an ‘eco’ option to replace fossil fuels, and deceiving European drivers into burning, essentially, rainforests in their tanks.

Millions of acres of rainforest, and orangutan habitat, have been destroyed –– replaced by huge palm oil plantations to feed Europe’s cars. Deprived of their natural habitat, orangutans starve. When they feed off palm fruits on plantations, they’re shot.

And if we continue, soon orangutans, among the smartest, sweetest and closest relatives of ours, will be extinct.

We can protect the orangutans and the rainforest from palm oil destruction — but we have to act now. Please sign the petition to put an end to palm oil in biodiesel:

Tell the EU: No rainforests in my tank! Stop subsidising palm oil biodiesel.

Last May, close to 100,000 of us pushed the EU to adopt a breakthrough law to stop subsidising ‘high risk’ food crops such as palm oil in biodiesel. But unless the EU clarifies that palm oil is ‘high risk’ by February, palm oil lobbyists could pressure it to keep dirty palm oil in our tanks.

European drivers would be forced to continue to burn up billions of litres of palm oil.

This is a critical moment to save the orangutans and protect our rainforests.

Right now, the EU is being lobbied hard by the Indonesian and Malaysian governments and palm oil barons to continue subsidising palm oil biodiesel, or risk not signing trade deals.

We have just two months to stand down these powerful biofuel and palm oil lobbyists. Please sign the petition to tell the EU that you don’t want rainforest destruction for fake ‘green fuels’.

Tell the EU: No rainforests in my tank! Stop subsidising palm oil biodiesel.

The good news is, SumOfUs members are making strides in cleaning up the dirty palm oil industry. This month, 240,000 of us helped win breakthrough sanctions against Pepsi’s palm oil business partner Indofood — finally holding it to account for labour abuse on palm oil plantations.

And last month, Nestlé responded to our people-powered pressure by ending a 13-year old Joint Venture Partnership with palm oil villain Indofood.

Getting the EU to take palm oil out of our tanks could be our biggest palm oil victory yet. Almost all the growth in the use of palm oil in 2017 was due to biodiesel, driven by an EU law that obliges governments to blend vegetable oils in diesel, while Indonesia’s rainforests (literally) went up in flames to clear land for more palm oil.

Can you sign the petition to make headlines and launch a huge people-powered campaign saying no to palm oil in our tanks?

 Sign the Petition 

Thanks for all that you do,
Rebecca, Fatah and the team at SumOfUs

 

More information:

Up in smoke: Europe’s cars driving deforestation in Southeast Asia, Transport and Environment, 6 June 2018
Palm oil producers are wiping out orangutans – despite multinationals’ promises, The Guardian, 10 May 2018