KUALA LUMPUR — The world must end its hypocrisy in treating palm oil as an “environmental villain” while giving fossil fuel producers a free pass, said Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) chairman Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha, in a scathing critique of global climate politics.
Speaking at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 2025 conference today, Helmy said the world’s major economies had long applied “colonial thinking” and “economic apartheid” to developing nations through policies that penalise palm oil, despite mounting evidence of sustainability progress in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“When fossil fuel use is excused in the name of ‘energy security’, sustainable palm oil is banned in the name of ‘deforestation’,” said Helmy, who is also the group managing director of SD Guthrie Bhd.
“Because of these double standards that developing countries cannot afford to fight against, a new challenge is emerging — one that affects global availability itself.”
He warned that persistent hostility towards palm oil has pushed major producers to prioritise domestic needs over exports, reshaping global supply.
Indonesia, he noted, already operates a B40 biodiesel blend, with plans to move toward B50 and eventually B60, while Malaysia is advancing its B30 programme.
“Each increase in blending means more palm oil is used domestically for energy — and less is available for export,” Helmy said.
“While the global North debates whether to ‘phase out’ palm oil, the two biggest producers are blending it for fuel.”
He added that this shift could undermine global access to what he called “the most efficient, most productive, and most sustainably produced vegetable oil in the world.”
Helmy said both Malaysia and Indonesia have made measurable progress in curbing deforestation, citing World Resources Institute and Global Forest Watch data showing that Malaysia’s deforestation rate has fallen by more than 60% since its peak, while Indonesia’s has hit record lows.
Both countries, he noted, still maintain over 50% forest cover — more than many developed nations.
He criticised the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which classifies Malaysia under a “standard risk” category despite this progress, calling the approach “unjustified” and harmful to the global South.
“Imposing stricter environmental standards on developing countries while ignoring historical emissions from industrialised nations is not environmentalism — it’s economic apartheid,” he said.
Helmy also made a provocative appeal for a more balanced global approach to development, arguing that poorer countries should not be shamed for using their natural resources.
“They should be allowed to lose some of their forest to stimulate economic activity for their people,” he said. “If the world continues to reject palm oil with one-sided, myopic and colonial thinking, it will pay the price — in food security, affordability, and even in achieving climate targets.” — November 3, 2025