Too bad for the planet: to please Total, but also to Malaysia and Indonesia, the Minister authorizes the import of 300.000 tons per year of this decried product.
It has certainly become a little too easy to be ironic on the rostrum of snakes that Nicolas Hulot, Minister of Ecological Transition, has been spending for a year. But this one is too big to let pass, it's a boa. Wednesday, with the green light of the minister, the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhone authorized the Total group to operate a biorefinery on its site of Mède, near the pond of Berre. As of this summer, Total will import at least 300.000 tons of palm oil per year, which represents an increase in French imports of this 36% product.
In July 2017, in presenting his climate plan, Nicolas Hulot proposed to "close the window of opportunity which allows palm oil to be incorporated into fuels". But upon his appointment, the minister quickly had to backtrack.
A monstrous deforestation
Palm oil has many qualities: it is easy to grow, and therefore inexpensive; it is a very stable product, which resists heat and oxidation; it is easy to "work" in an industrial process. But as we know, it is a horror. Not so much for health, although its saturated fats are not the panacea. To extract it, we indulge in Indonesia and Malaysia (90% of production) in monstrous deforestation, in order to plant oil palm trees.
However, who says deforestation says massacre of the last orangutans and gibbons, destruction of biodiversity, extremely polluting burns, expropriation of villages ... But also worsening of global warming. Because, as Nicolas Hulot recalled before he was minister, "deforestation is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions". According to a study commissioned in 2016 by the European Commission, palm oil is three times more harmful, in terms of greenhouse effects, than fossil fuels.
The proportions of this palm oil industry are gigantic. It's not just about adding a few grams to Nutella: palm oil makes up a quarter of all the oil produced in the world. Crisps with mayonnaise, this vegetable fat is present in 80% of industrialized food products and 20% of cosmetics. It is used mainly for the fuel industry: in France, 75% of imported palm oil ends up in vehicle tanks.
Nicolas Hulot's decision therefore appears incomprehensible. It is contrary to the interests of French rapeseed producers. It is against the interests of the planet - and there is no "planet B", to paraphrase Emmanuel Macron, who swears to have made the fight against global warming his priority. It is contrary to the opinion of the European Parliament which, in January, voted to end the use of palm oil in fuels by 2021. Finally, it is contrary to what the minister himself thinks of deeper into himself. Asked about BFMTV-RMC, he tried to justify himself by explaining that it was transitory, that he had negotiated with Patrick Pouyané, the boss of Total, so that the share of palm oil is limited and reduced each year to profit from used oils… But not enough to calm ecological organizations.
Pleasing Total, Indonesia and Malaysia
Why this decision? Two explanations. The first is effective lobbying by Total, which seeks to save the Mède site. Patrick Pouyané, the boss, is a fan of Emmanuel Macron: he may well have been director of François Fillon's cabinet, he supported the latter's opponent during his campaign and he is full of praise for this president which, he says, makes France "take a leap towards modernity". Macron, for his part, considers Total to be one of the most strategic groups in France.
Second explanation, even more cynical: France sells arms and planes to Indonesia and Malaysia. And these countries threaten not to buy these machines any more if Paris harms their exports. To torpedo a French palm oil tax plan, Indonesia, in 2016, threatened not to order Airbus A400M military transport aircraft. And according to the "New Factory", Malaysia is doing the same today: it threatens to no longer buy 18 Rafale under discussion.
After the European Parliament's vote in favor of banning palm oil in fuels in January, France had already indicated that it would oppose it. Today it confirms its very little orientation "Make the Planet Great again", to use the ambitious slogan of Emmanuel Macron. The "window of opportunity" that Nicolas Hulot mentioned in 2017 remains, unfortunately, wide open and its hinges well oiled.
Pascal Riché
https://www.nouvelobs.com/edito/20180517.OBS6826/feu-vert-a-total-sur-l-huile-de-palme-le-triste-renoncement-de-hulot.html
This confirms the Macron method, the establishment of N.Hulot served as an ecological screen, and by means of ballast on secondary issues (abandonment of the Notre Dame des Landes airport project, closure of Fessenheim) the principle remains the same: continue in the worst ...
