Food, biofuels or cosmetics? Land-use, deforestation and CO2 emissions embodied in the palm oil consumption of four European countries: a biophysical accounting approach

Around 75% of tropical deforestation in the XXI century has been driven by the expansion of agriculture and forest plantations. Since 1990s, palm oil has been standing for a critical global traded product in terms of embodied deforestation. The European Union (EU) is one of the major players in terms of embodied deforestation linked to palm oil consumption. By adopting a biophysical accounting approach, the study: (1) investigated the palm oil imports between 2000 and 2020 by four EU countries (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, (2) estimated the share of imports driven by the demand from the food, oleochemicals, and energy sectors, and (3) quantified land, deforestation, and CO2 emissions associated with Land-Use Change (LUC) embodied in trade. Different trade profiles have emerged among the four importing countries. Italy and Spain showed a major direct trade link with producing countries, while France and Germany have significant connections with non-producing countries (i.e. intermediate trade partners). Overall, our results show that, following different trends, leading consumption sectors have shifted from the food towards the energy sector. Consequently, the growing demand for palm oil as a feedstock for biofuel production has determined increased environmental impacts in South-East Asia. Since 2000, the total embodied land footprint has increased four-fold, while, over the period considered, according to our second and the third attribution approaches (i.e. historical and rapid-conversion), between 5–78 m2 of deforestation and 28–445 kg CO2 emissions associated with LUC activities have been incorporated in the per-capita consumption of palm oil and its co-products in the leading European economies. Moreover, according to the first attribution approach (i.e. concession-level) and the allocation by sector, we concluded that, between 2004 and 2016, the German food sector is the one that embodied the larger deforestation footprint, followed by the Italian and Spanish energy sectors.