EU Ambassador says there is no EU ban on palm oil

In Indonesia, Ambassador of the EU to Indonesia Vincent Guérend said in a statement on Friday that no specific biofuel or feedstock is targeted, all vegetable oils are treated equally, and palm oil is not identified as a bad biofuel, according to Antara News.

“Biofuels are an important element of the EU’s renewable energy policy. However, rules are needed to ensure the production of feedstock for biofuels is sustainable and does not cause deforestation through indirect land use change (ILUC),” Guerend remarked according to Antara News. “The Renewable Energy Directive (a modality of the EU law), which is already in force, therefore includes a new approach, ensuring that crops used for the production of biofuels are not sourced from recently deforested areas or peatlands – no matter where they are produced – and they have not merely displaced other production to high-carbon, high-nature value areas, elsewhere either.”