Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote the (a) use and (b) consumption of alternatives to palm oil by UK (i) businesses and (ii) consumers.

Oil Palm is a very efficient crop, producing more oil per hectare than other vegetable oil crops. Substitution with other oils (e.g. soybean, rapeseed, sunflower) which typically require significantly more land to produce may lead to greater deforestation as more land is converted to agricultural use. The Government is therefore committed to reducing the environmental impact of palm oil production while at the same time building demand for sustainable palm oil in the UK.

In 2012 the Government established the UK Roundtable on Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil which brings together key UK businesses and supports them to transition to fully sustainable palm oil supply chains. Latest reports show that the UK has achieved 70% certified sustainable palm oil in 2019 – up from 16% in 2010.

In addition, the Government recently tabled amendments to the Environment Bill to introduce new legislation to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. The amendments passed in the Commons Committee Stage last month.