Impacts of palm oil
Palm oil is one of the most widely traded vegetable oils in the world and is used extensively in food products, cosmetics and biofuels. Oil palm is often considered one of the most land-efficient oil crops, producing substantially higher yields per hectare than alternatives such as soybean, rapeseed or sunflower oil (Meijaard et al., 2020). However, the rapid expansion of plantations has generated growing concerns regarding deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and social impacts, particularly in tropical regions (Vijay et al., 2016; Ayompe et al., 2021). One of the strongest connections between palm oil and climate change is deforestation. Vijay et al. (2016) show that oil palm expansion has become an important driver of forest conversion in tropical regions, particularly in Southeast Asia. Forests and peatlands store large amounts of carbon, and when they are cleared or burned to establish plantations, significant greenhouse gas emissions are released into the at...