Ethical or Sustainable Subject

The focus of my classical animation piece is palm oil and its issues regarding sustainability. My audience will be British consumers, and the purpose of my animation is to bring awareness to how ingredients are sourced, and to show consumers how they can contribute by buying palm oil products that are sourced sustainably.

Palm oil is often sourced in an unsustainable manner.

“Tropical rainforests are the ‘crown jewels’ of our planet – despite covering only 2% of the earth’s surface, they contain an estimated 50% of all our biodiversity.” (Walker, 2018)

 

The rainforest is home to many – both animals and humans alike, however, due to the worldwide demand for palm oil, these habitats are slowly dwindling away.

 

 

Infographic highlighting the deforestation due to palm oil plantations in Borneo since the 1950s.

Palm oil, unlike other vegetable oils, has a faster, more efficient distribution rate. It is seen as highly profitable for farmers, and is known for its versatility, showing up in a range of day-to-day products. Other oils, such as sunflower or coconut oil take much longer to produce in comparison (Meijaard, 2019).

 

Although versatile, palm oil has been linked to many health problems, with a single teaspoon containing 14g of saturated fat, which is a leading cause of heart disease (Robb-Nicholson, 2021).

There are many products which contain palm oil
My own images of Palm Oil-free products in the supermarket

Some companies have pledged to be more sustainable. In 2018, UK supermarket Iceland announced their plans to remove palm oil from their own-branded range. This came after studies showed that 50% of all supermarket products contain palm oil, and that 35% of consumers do not know what palm oil is (Iceland, 2018). Another study confirmed that the UK consumes one-million tonnes of palm oil annually (FriendsOfTheEarth, ND)

 

Palm oil plantations pose a large threat to Orangutans.

Another motivator of Iceland’s decision was the growing concerns of deforestation and harm to wildlife in south-east Asia due to the production of palm oil. The Bornean Orangutan, native to the Malaysian-Indonesian island of Borneo, has seen its population halved in the last 20 years. Other species, like the Sumatran Tiger of Indonesia have been reduced to 400, after 50% of Sumatra’s forests have been destroyed in the last 40 years. (WorldWildLife, ND)

 

And it’s not just animals being affected, natural plants and vegetation have been destroyed because of forest fires caused by peatland draining for plantations. In turn, land is stripped off its resources, leaving indigenous tribes such as Orang Rimba’s no choice except to abandon the land they’ve lived upon for centuries.

forest fires caused by palm oil plantations kill native wildlife.

 

“A patchwork of weak laws, exacerbated by poor government oversight, and the failure of oil palm plantation companies to fulfil their human rights due diligence responsibilities, have resulted in loss of land and livelihood opportunities for Indigenous people” (HumanRightsWatch, 2019).

There are over 2000 indigenous colonies in Indonesia, making up 1/4 of the country’s population (HumanRightsWatch, 2019). The expansion of palm oil plantations has shown to be detrimental to the rights of these people, affecting their livelihoods and culture.

Families of palm oil farmers rely on the income from palm oil farming to pay for education.

On the other hand, the palm oil industry has also shown beneficial to some indigenous people who run plantations. To close them down could threaten their incomes;


“Countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nigeria are all tropical low or medium-income countries with more than 10% of their land areas allocated to the production of vegetable oils” (Meijaard, 2019)

References:

Ahlenius, Hugo (2006) Extent of deforestation in Borneo 1950-2005, and projection towards 2020 [Image]. Available online: https://grid-arendal.herokuapp.com/resources/8324 [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

FriendsOfTheEarth (nd) Palm oil
End exploitation by big business [Article]. Available online: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/palm-oil-end-exploitation-big-business [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

HumanRightsWatch (2019) “When We Lost the Forest, We Lost Everything”
Oil Palm Plantations and Rights Violations in Indonesia [Quote] Available online: https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/09/23/when-we-lost-forest-we-lost-everything/oil-palm-plantations-and-rights-violations [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

HumanRightsWatch (2019) “When We Lost the Forest, We Lost Everything”
Oil Palm Plantations and Rights Violations in Indonesia [Article]. Available online: https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/09/23/when-we-lost-forest-we-lost-everything/oil-palm-plantations-and-rights-violations [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Iceland (2018) ICELAND TO BE THE UK’S FIRST MAJOR SUPERMARKET
TO REMOVE PALM OIL FROM OWN LABEL FOOD [PDF]. Available online: https://about.iceland.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Iceland-to-be-the-UKs-first-major-supermarket-to-remove-palm-oil-from-own-label-food-10.4.18.pdf [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

LifeOnPlates (2016) Palm Oil Products [Image]. Available online: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeonplates/31650924642/in/dateposted/ [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Maudeux.creations (nd) Stop Palm Oil [Illustration]. Available online: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmOPYqPDKnx/ [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Meijaard, Erik & Sheil, Douglas (2019) The Moral Minefield of Ethical Oil Palm and Sustainable Development [Article]. Available online: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00022/full [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Robb-Nicholson, Celeste (2021) By the way, doctor: Is palm oil good for you? [Article]. Available online: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/by-the-way-doctor-is-palm-oil-good-for-you [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Unknown (nd) Indigenous Children of Borneo [Image]. Available online: https://blogsmedia.lse.ac.uk/blogs.dir/57/files/2022/01/Indigenous-childern-Borneo.png?_gl=1*npzudn*_ga*NDM4MDc4MzAuMTcwNjYxODIzMw..*_ga_BP3F43VPVK*MTcwNjYyNDAwMi4yLjAuMTcwNjYyNDAwNy41NS4wLjA. [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Unknown (nd) Orangutan Desperately Trying to Stop Buldozer From Destroying His History Is A Wake Up Call For Us [Image]. Available online:  https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/104919866304084226/ [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

Unknown (nd) Palm Oil Plantation [Image]. Available online: https://oopsvegan.com/en/blog/lab-grown-cultivated-palm-oil [Accessed: 29/01/2024]

 

Walker, Richard (2018) Iceland: No Appetite for Extinction [Article]. Available online: https://about.iceland.co.uk/2018/04/10/iceland-no-appetite-for-extinction/ [Accessed: 29.01.2024]

 

WorldWildLife (nd) Endangered species threatened by unsustainable palm oil production [Article]. Available online: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/endangered-species-threatened-by-unsustainable-palm-oil-production [Accessed: 29.01.2024]