A CONCERN: Rising temperatures, water stress and flooding threaten industry

WORLD leaders met again in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This samba capital of the world hosted a global discourse on the fate of the planet.

The first meeting there was held 20 years ago. The subject matter remained the same. What do we do about the state of the world environment, which is increasingly under threat?

And, the threat is by us, men. Dubbed Rio+20, the meeting proved to be another platform for protests and pledges. Orators as usual had world attention with their rhetoric. Some were even repeats of the last meeting because, admittedly, nothing much has changed. Will Rio+20 be a turning point for the world? Or will it be another merry-making event?

The world climate is definitely changing. The evidence is convincing. The trend in rising global temperatures can no longer be disputed. Melting of the Arctic ice is real. And, extreme weather conditions have been occurring at disturbing regularity. Sadly, global greenhouse gas emissions have not come down. Despite various attempts, international agreements on the mechanisms have not been successful. But, one encouraging development is that more are now convinced that man is responsible. Earlier sceptics have literally disappeared.

Climate change is bound to impact on oil palm. This is worrying. With the rise in temperature, incidences related to water stress may become more prevalent. During times of drought, oil palm yield suffers significantly. This has become evident during the many El Nino periods when water scarcity hit the oil palm sector. Unless something is done to develop a drought-resistant variety, the supply of palm oil for the world market will come under intense pressure. But, climate change is not just about dry periods. The highly uncertain and extreme nature of climate is another common feature. In the case of oil palm, unusually long periods of flooding have also negatively impacted on the supply because of harvesting difficulties.

Destruction of biodiversity is another issue of climate change. It has also become a growing concern of the palm oil industry. Already, some markets are taking potshots, blaming palm oil for the loss in tropical biodiversity through deforestation. They are coming out with all kinds of import restrictions on palm oil.

Greenhouse gas emission is the common criteria used. While the importing countries show palm oil failing to meet the minimum emission levels, the assessment by palm oil exporters shows otherwise. There is a need to come together to agree on the method of assessment.

What is needed is a more comprehensive study. It would be a pity if palm oil is wrongly judged. There is no doubt the growing world population will need more food. Oils and fats are important in man’s overall nutrition. In fact, food will not taste as good without fats. In Malaysia, fried kway teow would not taste the same. In South Asia, what would happen to the taste of briyani?

While the world needs more oil, the land to grow them is growing scarce. Climate change is going to make it worse. For example, rain-fed oilseeds region of India is now under intense pressure because of the changing monsoon patterns. But, oil palm offers the best option because of its extremely high yield. In fact, there is potential to increase it further with recent advances in palm oil genomics.

As an important world resource, it is clear that oil palm is not spared from the rigours of climate change. It can be concluded that palm oil will be impacted on both the supply and demand sides.

On the supply side, yield will suffer because of climate-induced water stress situation.

On the demand side, palm oil may be misjudged on its true contribution to climate change and may be wrongfully penalised. Unless these issues are addressed, they will upset the supply and demand equation for palm oil. Its price movement may become volatile, which is not good for both suppliers and buyers of palm oil. But, of more concern is that the world may be denied the benefits of a highly productive oil source! Will it survive?

Source : New Straits Times