France Supports Sustainable Palm Oil, Against Negative Campaign

BLACK campaign and boycott threat to palm oil in the European Union do not merely reflect policy of all nations in the regions. Many countries don’t buy such campaign. France, for instance, has a firm stand that such action is a hindrance to sustainable palm oil development. Supporting sustainable palm oil development is the right decision. Secretary of State to the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said that boycott is not a solution to sustainable issue in palm oil industry. `Boycott is not a proper solution to this issue. The proper solution is to develop sustainable management (plantation) technique and conduct certification,` he said in a press conference in Jakarta, Thursday night, (29/11/2018). He said the French government supported the Indonesian government`s policy to rearrange the management of palm oil industry by imposing a moratorium on licensing oil palm plantations and making Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification mandatory. The policy should be encouraged because since ISPO was made mandatory in 2011 only 2.349 million out of 14 million hectares of oil palm plantations have been certified, with total crude palm oil (CPO) production reaching 10.2 million tons per year. During the three-day visit in Indonesia, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne met Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan to discuss the green economy and renewable energy. He also warmly welcomed the Indonesian government`s policy on the mandatory use of 20 percent blended biodiesel (B20) as alternative environmentally friendly fuel. (Sources: MI/Antara)