Indonesian Palm Oil Commission in trouble over deforestation claims

In Indonesia, a brochure released last week by the Indonesian Palm Oil Commission (IPOC) is being criticized for underestimating the impact of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.

The brochure stated that oil palm plantations sequester more CO2 from the atmosphere than rainforest, by 25.71 tons per hectare per year compared to 9.62 tons per hectare per year. Meine van Noordwijk, Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia and Principal Ecologist for the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) pointed out that, at the quoted differential, it would take an oil palm plantation 50-100 years before it made up for the emissions produced in deforestation, while the average life of a palm plantation is less than 25 years.

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