REPORT on palm oil and deforestation of rainforests

17.3.2017 - (2016/2222(INI))

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Rapporteur: Kateřina Konečná

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on palm oil and deforestation of rainforests

(2016/2222(INI))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the 2015-2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),

–  having regard to the Paris Agreement reached at the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21),

–  having regard to Commission Technical Report - 2013 - 063 entitled ‘The impact of EU consumption on deforestation’,

–  having regard to the Commission Communication of 17 October 2008 entitled ‘Addressing the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss’ (COM(2008)0645),  

–  having regard to the Amsterdam Declaration of 7 December 2015 entitled ‘Towards Eliminating Deforestation from Agricultural Commodity Chains with European Countries’, in support of a fully sustainable palm oil supply chain by 2020 and in support of an end to illegal deforestation by 2020,

–  having regard to the promise of government support for the scheme to make the palm oil industry 100 % sustainable by 2020, made by the five Member States and signatories to the Amsterdam Declaration: Denmark, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands,

–  having regard to the European Strategy for a low-carbon mobility of July 2016 and the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2016 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast),

–  having regard to the study commissioned and funded by the Commission of 4 October 2016 entitled ‘The land use change impact of biofuels consumed in the EU: Quantification of area and greenhouse gas impacts’,

–  having regard to the report entitled ‘Globiom: the basis for biofuel policy post-2020’,

–  having regard to Special Report No 18/2016 of the European Court of Auditors on the EU system for the certification of sustainable biofuels,

–  having regard to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),

–  having regard to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),

–  having regard to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered into force on 12 October 2014,

–  having regard to the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020, and the related mid-term review[1],

–  having regard to its resolution of 2 February 2016 on the mid-term review of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy[2],

–  having regard to the IUCN World Conservation Congress held in Hawaii in 2016 and its Motion 066 on mitigating the impacts of palm oil expansion and operations on biodiversity,

–  having regard to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),

–  having regard to Rule 52 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the opinions of the Committee on Development, the Committee on International Trade and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A8-0066/2017),

A.  whereas the European Union has ratified the Paris Agreement and should play a crucial role in achieving the objectives laid down in the areas concerning the fight against climate change and delivering environmental protection and sustainable development;

B.  whereas the EU was instrumental in setting the Sustainable Development Goals that are closely linked to the issue of palm oil (SDGs 2, 3, 6, 14, 16, 17 and, in particular, 12, 13 and 15);

C.  whereas under the 2030 Agenda On Sustainable Development, the EU is committed to promoting the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, to halting deforestation, to restoring degraded forests and to substantially increasing afforestation and reforestation worldwide by 2020; whereas under the 2030 Agenda the EU is also committed to ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, to encouraging companies to adopt sustainable practices and integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle and to promoting sustainable public procurement practices, in accordance with national policies and global priorities by 2020;

D.  whereas there are many drivers of global deforestation, including the production of agricultural commodities such as soy, beef, maize and palm oil;

E.  whereas nearly half (49 %) of all recent tropical deforestation is the result of illegal clearing for commercial agriculture and this destruction is driven by overseas demand for agricultural commodities, including palm oil, beef, soy, and wood products; whereas it is estimated that the illegal conversion of tropical forests for the purposes of commercial agriculture produces 1.47 gigatonnes of carbon each year – the equivalent of 25 % of the EU’s annual fossil fuel-based emissions[3];

F.  whereas the wildfires of 2015 in Indonesia and Borneo were the worst observed for almost two decades and occurred as a result of global climate change, land use changes and deforestation; whereas the extremely dry conditions in the regions in question are likely to become more common events in the future, unless concerted action is taken to prevent fires;

G.  whereas the wildfires in Indonesia and Borneo exposed 69 million people to unhealthy air pollution and are responsible for thousands of premature deaths;

H.  whereas fires in Indonesia are typically the result of the clearing of land for palm oil plantations and other agricultural uses; whereas 52 % of fires in Indonesia in 2015 occurred in carbon-rich peatlands, turning the country into one of the largest contributors to global warming on Earth[4]^;

I.  whereas the absence of accurate palm oil concession maps and public land registries in many producing countries makes it difficult to determine responsibility for forest fires;

J.  whereas under the New York Declaration on Forests, the EU has agreed to ‘help meet the private-sector goal of eliminating deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities such as palm oil, soy, paper and beef products by no later than 2020, recognizing that many companies have even more ambitious targets’;

K.  whereas in 2008 the EU committed to reduce deforestation by at least 50 % by 2020 and to halt global forest cover loss by 2030;

L.  whereas precious tropical ecosystems, which cover a mere 7 % of the Earth’s surface, are under increasing pressure from deforestation; whereas the establishment of palm oil plantations is resulting in massive forest fires, the drying up of rivers, soil erosion, peatland drainage, the pollution of waterways and overall loss of biodiversity, which in turn leads to the loss of many ecosystem services and is having a major impact on the climate, the conservation of natural resources and the preservation of the global environment for present and future generations;

M.  whereas the consumption of palm oil and its derived processed goods plays a major role in the impact of EU consumption on global deforestation;

N.  whereas demand for vegetable oils in general is set to increase[5], while demand for palm oil will, according to estimates, double by 2050[6]; whereas, since the 1970s, 90 % of the growth in palm oil production has been concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia; whereas, moreover, oil palm cultivation is also taking off in other Asian countries, as well as in Africa and Latin America, where new plantations are constantly being established and existing ones expanded, a state of affairs that will lead to further damage to the environment; notes, however, that replacing palm oil with other vegetable oils would create a need for more land for cultivation;

O.  whereas the heavy use of palm oil is primarily due to its low cost, which is made possible by the increase in the number of oil palm plantations in deforested areas; whereas, in addition, the use of palm oil in the food industry is in keeping with a model of mass, unsustainable production and consumption, which runs counter to the use and promotion of organic, high-quality, zero-food-mile ingredients and products;

P.  whereas palm oil is increasingly being used as a biofuel and in processed food, with some 50 % of packaged goods now containing palm oil;

Q.  whereas some companies trading in palm oil are failing to prove beyond doubt that the palm oil in their supply chain is not linked to deforestation, peatland drainage or environmental pollution, and to demonstrate that it has been produced with full respect for fundamental human rights and adequate social standards;

R.  whereas under the 7th Environment Action Programme (EAP) the Commission is required to assess the environmental impact, in a global context, of Union consumption of food and non-food commodities and, if appropriate, to develop policy proposals to address the findings of such assessments, and to consider the development of a Union action plan on deforestation and forest degradation;

S.  whereas the Commission is planning studies on deforestation and palm oil;

T.  whereas the total GHG emissions from palm oil-related land use change is unknown; whereas it is necessary to improve scientific assessments in this regard;

U.  whereas there are no reliable data available in producer countries on the areas of land given over to the cultivation of oil palms, whether authorised or not; whereas this obstacle, from the outset, undermines the measures taken to certify the sustainability of palm oil;

V.  whereas the energy sector was responsible for 60 % of EU palm oil imports in 2014, with 46 % of imported palm oil used as fuel for transport (a six-fold increase on 2010) and 15 % for power and heat generation;

W.  whereas it is estimated that by 2020 the amount of land that will be converted globally to produce palm oil for biodiesel will be 1Mha (million hectares), of which 0.57Mha will be converted from Southeast Asian primary forests[7];

X.  whereas the total land use change caused by the EU 2020 biofuel mandate is 8.8 Mha, of which 2.1 Mha of land is converted in Southeast Asia under pressure from oil palm plantation expansion, half of which occurs at the expense of tropical forest and peatland;

Y.  whereas the deforestation of rainforests is destroying the natural habitats of more than half of the world’s animal species and more than two thirds of its plant species and endangering their survival; whereas rainforests are home to some of the world’s rarest and often endemic species, which are included on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the category of critically endangered species considered to have been undergoing an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected population size reduction of more than 80 % over the last 10 years or three generations; whereas EU consumers should be better informed of the efforts made to protect those animal and plant species;

Z.  whereas multiple investigations reveal widespread abuses of basic human rights during the establishment and operation of palm oil plantations in many countries, including forced evictions, armed violence, child labour, debt bondage or discrimination against indigenous communities;

AA.  whereas there are very worrying reports[8] that a substantial part of global palm oil production is in breach of fundamental human rights and adequate social standards, that child labour is frequently being exploited, and that there are many land conflicts between local and indigenous communities and palm oil concession holders;

General considerations

1.  Recalls that sustainable agriculture, food security and sustainable forest management are core objectives of the SDGs;

2.  Recalls that forests are essential for climate change adaptation and mitigation;

3.  Notes the complexity of the driving factors of global deforestation, such as clearing land for cattle or arable crops, in particular to produce soya feed for EU livestock, as well as palm oil, urban sprawl, logging and other intensive agricultural activity;

4.  Notes that 73 % of global deforestation arises from the clearing of land for agricultural commodities, with 40 % of global deforestation caused by conversion to large-scale monocultural oil palm plantations[9];

5.  Notes that palm oil exploitation is not the sole cause of deforestation, with the expansion of illegal logging activities and demographic pressures also responsible for this problem;

6.  Observes that other plant-based oils produced from soybeans, rapeseed and other crops have a much higher environmental footprint and require much more extensive land use than palm oil; notes that other oil crops typically entail a more intensive use of pesticides and fertiliser;

7.  Notes with concern that the global rush for land is driven by increasing global demand for biofuel and raw materials, and by speculation on land and agricultural commodities;

8.  Recalls that the EU is a major importer of products resulting from deforestation, which has devastating impacts on biodiversity;

9.  Notes that a little under one quarter (by value) of all agricultural commodities in international trade obtained from illegal deforestation is destined for the EU, including 27 % of all soy, 18 % of all palm oil, 15 % of all beef and 31 % of all leather[10];

10.  Highlights that in order to effectively combat deforestation linked to the consumption of agricultural commodities, EU action should consider not only palm oil production, but all such imported agricultural imports;

11.  Recalls that Malaysia and Indonesia are the main producers of palm oil, with an estimated 85-90 % of global production, and welcomes the fact that Malaysian primary forest levels have increased since 1990, but remains concerned that current deforestation levels in Indonesia are running at a rate of -0.5 % total loss every five years;

12.  Recalls that Indonesia has recently become the third highest polluter of CO₂ in the world and suffers from decreasing biodiversity, with several endangered wildlife species on the verge of extinction;

13.  Recalls that palm oil accounts for about 40 % of global trade in all vegetable oils and that the EU, with around 7 million tonnes per year, is the second largest global importer;

14.  Is alarmed by the fact that around half of the area of illegally cleared forests is used for palm oil production for the EU market;

15.  Notes that palm oil is used as an ingredient and/or substitute by the agri-food industry because of its productivity and chemical properties, for example its ease of storage, melting point and lower price as a raw material;

16.  Notes also that palm kernel cake is used in the EU for animal feed, especially for fattening dairy and beef cattle;

17  Highlights in this context that social, health and environmental standards are stricter in the EU;

18.  Is fully aware of how complex the issue of palm oil is and emphasises the importance of developing a global solution based on the collective responsibility of many actors; strongly recommends this principle for all those involved in its supply chain, including: the EU and other international organisations, the Member States, financial institutions, the governments of producer countries, indigenous people and local communities, national and multinational businesses involved in producing, distributing and processing palm oil, consumer associations, and NGOs; is convinced, moreover, that all of these actors must necessarily play a part by coordinating their efforts in order to resolve the many serious problems linked to the unsustainable production and consumption of palm oil;

19.  Underlines the shared global responsibility in achieving sustainable palm oil production, while emphasising the important role of the food industry to source sustainably produced alternatives;

20.  Notes that a number of commodity producers and traders, retailers and other intermediaries in the supply chain, including European companies, have made commitments in the areas of zero-deforestation production and trade of commodities, zero-conversion of carbon-rich peatlands, respect for human rights, transparency, traceability, third party verification and responsible management practices;

21.  Recognises that the conservation of the rainforest and global biodiversity are of the utmost importance for the future of the earth and humanity, but stresses that preservation efforts should be combined with rural development policy instruments to prevent poverty and bolster employment for small farming communities in the areas concerned;

22.  Considers that efforts to halt deforestation must include local capacity-building, technological aid, the sharing of best practices between communities and support to help smallholders make the most effective use of their existing croplands without resorting to further forest conversion; stresses, in this context, the strong potential of agroecological practices to maximise ecosystem functions via mixed, high diversity planting, agroforestry and permaculture techniques, without resorting to input dependency or monocultures;

23.  Notes that the cultivation of palm oil can deliver positive contributions to the economic development of countries and offer viable economic opportunities for farmers, provided that it is carried out responsibly and sustainably and that strict conditions for sustainable cultivation are laid down;

24.  Notes the existence of various types of voluntary certification schemes, including RSPO, ISPO and MSPO, and welcomes their role in promoting the sustainable cultivation of palm oil; notes, however, that the sustainability criteria of these standards are the subject of criticism especially with regard to ecological and social integrity; emphasises that the existence of different schemes is confusing for consumers and that the ultimate objective should be the development of a single certification scheme, which would improve the visibility of sustainable palm oil for consumers; calls on the Commission to ensure that such a certification scheme will guarantee that only sustainably produced palm oil enters the EU market;

25.  Notes that our non-EU partners also need to be made more aware of their role in tackling sustainability and deforestation issues, including in their sourcing practices;

Recommendations

26.  Calls on the Commission to honour the EU’s international commitments, inter alia, those made within the framework of COP 21, the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF)[11], the UN Convention on Biological Biodiversity (UNCBD)[12], the New York Declaration on Forests and the Sustainable Development Goal to halt deforestation by 2020[13];

27.  Notes the potential of initiatives such as the New York Declaration on Forests[14] aimed at helping to meet private-sector goals to eliminate deforestation from production of agricultural commodities such as palm, soya, paper and beef by 2020; notes that some companies have more ambitious targets, but while 60 % of companies dealing in palm oil have committed to such initiatives, so far only 2 % are able to trace the palm oil they trade to its source[15];

28.  Notes the efforts and progress made by the food manufacturing sector to source CSPO; calls on all industry sectors using palm oil to step up their efforts to source CSPO;

29.  Calls on the Commission, and all Member States who have not yet done so, to demonstrate their commitment to working towards the establishment of an EU-wide national commitment of sourcing 100 % certified sustainable palm oil by 2020 by, inter alia, signing and implementing the Amsterdam Declaration ‘Towards Eliminating Deforestation from Agricultural Commodity Chains with European Countries’, and to working towards the establishment of an industry commitment by, inter alia, signing and implementing the Amsterdam Declaration ‘In Support of a Fully Sustainable Palm Oil Supply Chain by 2020’;

30.  Calls for companies that cultivate palm oil to adhere to the Bangkok Agreement on a Unified Approach to Implementing No Deforestation Commitments and to use the High Carbon Stock (HCS) approach, which helps to determine areas suitable for palm oil plantation, such as degraded lands of little carbon storage or natural value;

31.  Calls for the EU to maintain its commitments, to step up ongoing negotiations on the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements and to ensure that the final agreements cover conversion timber taken from the development of palm oil plantations; stresses the need to ensure that these agreements are in line with international law and commitments concerning environmental protection, human rights and sustainable development, and that they bring about adequate measures for the conservation and sustainable management of forests, including the protection of the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples; notes that a similar approach could also be taken with a view to ensuring responsible palm oil supply chains; suggests that EU policies for the palm oil sector build upon the FLEGT principles of multi-stakeholder dialogue and tackling deep-seated governance issues in producer countries, as well as supportive EU import policies; notes that these measures could lead to improved controls on the palm industry in countries of destination;

32.  Notes that an important element involves cooperating with producing countries by exchanging information on sustainable and economically viable developments and trading practices; supports producing countries in their efforts to develop sustainable practices that can help to improve lives and the economy of those countries;

33.  Calls on the Commission to encourage the exchange of best practice on transparency and cooperation between governments and companies that use palm oil and, together with the Member States, to work with third countries to develop and implement national laws and to respect customary community land rights that ensure that forests, forest peoples and their livelihoods are protected;

34.  Calls on the Commission to assess the necessity of putting in place mechanisms to address the conversion of forests for commercial agriculture within the FLEGT Action Plan Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) framework and to empower further civil society organisations and native communities and farmer‑landowners in the process;

35.  Calls for the EU to create, as a supplementary element of voluntary partnership agreements, follow-up legislation on such agreements with regard to palm oil along the lines of the EU Timber Regulation which includes both companies and financial institutions; notes that the EU has regulated the supply chains of timber, fish and conflict minerals, but has not yet regulated any forest risk agricultural commodity supply chains; urges the Commission and Member States to step up their efforts to implement the Timber Regulation, in order to better gauge its effectiveness and to ascertain whether it could be used as a model for a new EU legislative act designed to prevent the sale of unsustainable palm oil in the EU;

36.  Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors, to launch information campaigns and to provide consumers with comprehensive information on the positive environmental, social and political consequences of sustainable palm oil production; calls on the Commission to ensure that information confirming that a product is sustainable is provided to consumers by means of an immediately recognisable sign for all products containing palm oil, and strongly recommends that this sign is included on the product or packaging, or is easily accessible through technological features;

37.  Calls on the Commission to work closely with other significant consumers of palm oil, such as China, India and the producing countries, so as to raise their awareness and to explore common solutions to the problem of tropical deforestation and forest degradation;

38.  Eagerly awaits the Commission’s studies on deforestation and palm oil, which are expected to be presented as soon as possible after their completion;

39.  Calls on the Commission to provide comprehensive data on the use and consumption of palm oil in Europe and its importation into the EU;

40.  Calls on the Commission to intensify its research so as to gather information on the impact of European consumption and investment on the deforestation process, social problems, endangered species and environmental pollution in third countries, and to appeal to trading partners outside the EU to follow suit;

41.  Calls on the Commission to develop technologies and present a concrete action plan, including information campaigns, in order to reduce the impact of European consumption and investment on deforestation in third countries;

42.  Acknowledges the positive contribution made by existing certification schemes, but observes with regret that RSPO, ISPO, MSPO, and all other recognised major certification schemes do not effectively prohibit their members from converting rainforests or peatlands into palm plantations; considers, therefore, that these major certification schemes fail to effectively limit greenhouse gas emissions during the establishment and operation of the plantations, and have consequently been unable to prevent massive forest and peat fires; calls on the Commission to ensure that independent auditing and monitoring of those certification schemes is carried out, so as to guarantee that the palm oil placed on the EU market fulfils all necessary standards and is sustainable; notes that the issue of sustainability in the palm oil sector cannot be addressed by voluntary measures and policies alone, but that palm oil companies should also be subject to binding rules and a mandatory certification scheme;

43.  Calls for the EU to introduce minimum sustainability criteria for palm oil and products containing palm oil that enter the EU market, making sure that palm oil in the EU:

-   has not led to ecosystem degradation, such as deforestation of primary and secondary forests and the destruction or degradation of peatlands or other ecologically valuable habitats, whether directly or indirectly, and does not cause a loss in biodiversity, foremost of all endangered animal and plant species,

-   has not given rise to changes in land management practices which have negative environmental impacts,

-   has not given rise to economic, social and environmental problems and conflicts, including the particular problems of child labour, forced labour, land grabbing or the eviction of indigenous or local communities,

-   fully respects fundamental human and social rights, and is in full compliance with adequate social and labour standards designed to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of workers,

-  enables small-scale palm oil cultivators to be included in the certification system and ensures that they receive their fair share of profits,

-   is cultivated on plantations that are managed using modern agro-ecological techniques in order to drive the conversion to sustainable agricultural practices so as to minimise adverse environmental and social outcomes;

44.  Notes that strong standards for responsible palm oil production, including those developed by the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) are already available, but have yet to be widely adopted by companies and certification systems, with the exception of RSPO Next;

45.  Notes the importance for all actors along the supply chain of being able to distinguish between sustainably and non-sustainably sourced palm oil and its residues and by-products; notes the importance of traceability of commodities and transparency throughout all stages of the supply chain;

46.  Calls for the EU to establish a binding regulatory framework to ensure that all agricultural commodity importers’ supply chains are traceable back to the origin of the raw material;

47.  Calls on the Commission to increase the traceability of palm oil imported into the EU and, until the single certification scheme is applied, to consider applying different customs duty schemes that more accurately reflect the real costs associated with the environmental burden; asks the Commission to also consider the introduction and application of non-discriminatory tariff and non-tariff barriers based on the carbon footprint of palm oil; calls for the ‘polluter pays’ principle to be fully applied in relation to deforestation;

48.  Calls on the Commission to clearly define sanctions for non-compliance, while maintaining trading relations with third countries;

49.  Calls on the Commission, in this regard, to initiate a reform of the Harmonised System (HS) Nomenclature at the World Customs Organisation (WCO) that would allow a distinction between certified sustainable and unsustainable palm oil and their derivatives;

50.  Calls on the Commission to include, without delay, binding commitments in the sustainable development chapters of its trade and development cooperation agreements with a view to preventing deforestation, including, in particular, an anti-deforestation guarantee in trade agreements with producing countries, and with a view to providing strong and enforceable measures to tackle unsustainable forestry practices in producing countries;

51.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to focus on the development of tools that will facilitate the better integration of conservation issues into development cooperation; notes that such an approach will help to ensure that development activities do not lead to unintended environmental problems, but rather work in synergy with conservation activities;

52.  Observes that weak land registry regimes in producing countries constitute a major obstacle to controlling the expansion of palm oil plantations and limit smallholders’ opportunities to access the credit they require to improve the sustainability record of their plantations; notes that strengthening governance and forestry institutions at local and national level is a precondition for an effective environment policy; calls on the Commission to provide technical and financial assistance to producing countries in order to strengthen their land registry regimes and improve the environmental sustainability of palm oil plantations; points out that mapping in producer countries, including that carried out by means of satellite and geospatial technologies, is the only way to monitor oil palm concessions and to put in place targeted strategies for forestation, reforestation and the creation of ecological corridors; calls on the Commission to support producing countries to put in place fire prevention schemes;

53.  Supports the Indonesian Government’s recent peatland moratorium, which should prevent plantations from being expanded on afforested peatland; supports the setting up of a Peatland Restoration Agency for the purpose of restoring 2 million hectares of fire-hit peatland;

54.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to endorse the need, as part of the dialogue with those countries, to impose a freeze on the area under oil palm cultivation, including by introducing a moratorium on new concessions, in order to safeguard the remaining rainforest;

55.  Is alarmed that land deals can breach the principle of local communities’ free, prior and informed consent as set out in ILO Convention 169; calls for the EU and its Member States to ensure that EU-based investors adhere fully to international standards on responsible and sustainable investment in agriculture, notably the FAO-OECD Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains, the FAO voluntary guidelines on land tenure, the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; underlines the need to take steps to ensure access to remedy for victims of corporate abuses;

56.  Calls therefore on the relevant authorities in source countries to respect human rights, including the land rights of forest dwellers, and to strengthen environmental, social and health commitments, taking into account the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) voluntary guidelines on land tenure[16];

57.  Urges that the EU support micro-, small- and family‑based local rural enterprises and promote national and local legal registration of property or possession of land;

58.  Highlights the low deforestation rates of indigenous lands with secured customary systems of tenure and resource management, which have a high potential in terms of the cost-effective reduction of emissions and securing global ecosystem services; calls for the utilisation of international climate and development funds to secure indigenous and community lands and to support indigenous peoples and communities who invest in protecting their lands;

59.  Recalls that poor rural women are especially dependent on forest resources for their subsistence; stresses the necessity to mainstream gender in national forest policies and institutions, so as to promote e.g. the equal access of women to ownership of land and other resources;

60.  Reminds the Commission of its Communication entitled ‘Addressing the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss’[17], which emphasises a holistic approach to tropical deforestation that takes into account all deforestation drivers, including palm oil production; reminds the Commission of its objective in the COP21negotiations to halt global forest cover loss by 2030 at the latest and to reduce gross tropical deforestation by at least 50 % by 2020 compared to current levels;

61.  Calls on the Commission to press ahead with developing an EU action plan on deforestation and forest degradation which would include concrete regulatory measures to ensure that no supply chains and financial transactions linked to the EU result in deforestation and forest degradation, in line with the 7th EAP, as well as an EU action plan on palm oil; calls on the Commission to adopt a single unified definition of ‘deforestation-free’;

62.  Urges the Member States and the Commission to establish a definition of forest that includes biological, social and cultural diversity, so as to prevent land grabbing and the destruction of tropical forests resulting from vast palm oil monoculture, as this would jeopardise EU climate change commitments; stresses the need to give priority to native species, thereby protecting ecosystems, habitats and local communities;

63.  Calls on the Commission to put forward an EU action plan on responsible business conduct.

64.  Insists that development financial institutions should ensure that their social and environmental safeguard policies are binding and fully aligned with international human rights law; calls for increased transparency in the funding of private financial institutions and public financial bodies;

65.  Calls on the Member States to introduce obligatory requirements favouring sustainable palm oil in all national public procurement procedures;

66.  Notes with concern that commercial agriculture remains a significant driver of global deforestation and that around half of all tropical deforestation since 2000 has been due to the illegal conversion of forests to commercial agriculture, which may also entail a conflict risk; calls for improved coordination of forest, commercial agriculture, land use and rural development policies with a view to achieving the SDGs and the climate change commitments; stresses the need for policy coherence for development (PCD) also in this field, including on EU renewable energy policy;

67.  Draws attention to the problems associated with land concentration processes and land use changes that arise when monocultures, such as palm oil plantations, are created;

68.  Calls on the Commission to support further research into the effects of land use change, including deforestation and bioenergy production, on GHG emissions;

69.  Calls on the Commission to set an example for other countries by establishing accounting rules for greenhouse gas emissions from managed wetlands and for land-use changes of wetlands in EU legislation;

70.  Notes the effects of large oil palm monocultures, which increase pest presence, water pollution from agrochemicals and soil erosion, and impact the carbon sinking and ecology of the whole region, hampering the migration of animal species;

71.  Notes that the latest research proves that agroforestry polycropping applied to palm oil plantations can offer combined benefits in terms of biodiversity, productivity and positive social outcomes;

72.  Calls on the Commission to ensure the coherence of and to boost synergies between the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and other EU policies, and to ensure that they are conducted in a manner consistent with programmes aimed at combating deforestation in developing countries, such as REDD; calls on the Commission to ensure that the CAP reform does not lead, directly or indirectly, to further deforestation and that it supports the goal of putting an end to global deforestation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the environmental problems relating to deforestation caused by palm oil are also addressed in the light of the objectives set by the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, which should be an integral part of the Union’s external action in this area;

73.  Calls on the Commission to provide support to organisations focusing mainly on the in situ – but also ex situ – conservation of all animal species affected by habitat loss due to palm oil-related deforestation;

74.  Calls for more research at EU level into sustainable animal feed in order for alternatives to oil palm products to be developed for European agriculture.

75.  Notes that 70 % of biofuel consumed in the EU is grown/produced in the EU and, of the biofuel imported into the EU, 23 % is palm oil, mainly from Indonesia, and another 6 % is soya[18];

76.  Notes the indirect effects of EU biofuel demand associated with tropical forest destruction;

77.  Notes that once Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) is taken into account, crop-derived biofuels can in some cases even result in a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, e.g. the burning of habitats with high carbon stocks like tropical forests and peatland; is concerned that the impact of ILUC is not covered by the Commission’s assessment of voluntary schemes;

78.  Calls for the EU institutions to include, as part of the reform of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), specific verification procedures regarding land tenure conflicts, forced/child labour, poor working conditions for farmers and dangers to health and safety in its voluntary scheme; calls, likewise, on the EU to take into account the impact of ILUC and to include social responsibility requirements in the reform of the RED;

79.  Calls for the inclusion in EU biofuels policy of effective sustainability criteria that protect land of high biodiversity value, high carbon stocks and peatland, and that include social criteria;

80.  Acknowledges the latest report[19] of the European Court of Auditors analysing the current certification schemes for biofuels, which found that these schemes are missing important aspects of sustainability such as not taking into account the indirect effects of demand, lack verification and cannot guarantee that certified biofuels are not causing deforestation and related negative socioeconomic effects; is aware of concerns about transparency in the evaluation of the certification schemes; calls on the Commission to improve the transparency of the sustainability schemes, including by drawing up an appropriate list of the aspects that should be scrutinised, such as yearly reports and the possibility of requesting audits, to be performed by independent third parties; calls for the Commission to have enhanced powers for the verification and monitoring of schemes, reports and activities;

81.  Calls for the relevant recommendations of the Court to be implemented, as agreed by the Commission;

82.  Notes with concern that 46 % of total palm oil imported by the EU is used for the production of biofuels and that this requires the use of about one million hectares of tropical soils; calls on the Commission to take measures to phase out the use of vegetable oils that drive deforestation, including palm oil, as a component of biofuels, preferably by 2020;

83.  Notes that simply banning or phasing out the use of palm oil may give rise to replacement tropical vegetable oils being used for biofuel production, which would, in all probability, be grown in the same ecologically sensitive regions as palm oil and which may have a much higher impact on biodiversity, land use and greenhouse gas emissions than palm oil itself; recommends finding and promoting more sustainable alternatives for biofuel use, such as European oils produced from domestically cultivated rape and sunflower seeds;

84.  Calls on the Commission and Member States to simultaneously support further development of second and third generation biofuels to reduce the risk of indirect land use change within the Union and to stimulate the transition towards advanced biofuels therein, in accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/1513 and in line with the circular economy, resource efficiency and low-emission mobility ambitions of the Union;

85.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

• [1]    Commission Communication entitled ‘Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020’ (COM(2011)0244)
• [2]    Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0034.
• [3]    Source: Forest Trends: Consumer Goods and Deforestation: An Analysis of the Extent and Nature of Illegality in Forest Conversion for Agriculture and Timber Plantations (http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4718.pdf)
• [4]    Source: World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/10/indonesia%E2%80%99s-fire-outbreaks-producing-more-daily-emissions-entire-us-economy)
• [5]    http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap106e/ap106e.pdf (FAO, World Agriculture Towards 2030/2050 - The 2012 Revision)
• [6]    http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/palm_oil/ (WWF)
• [7]    Source: Globiom report (https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/Final%20Report_GLOBIOM_publication.pdf )
• [8]    For example: Amnesty International - The Great Palm Oil Scandal (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa21/5243/2016/en/ ) and Rainforest Action Network - The Human Cost of Conflict Palm Oil(https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/rainforestactionnetwork/pages/15889/attachments/original/1467043668/The_Human_Cost_of_Conflict_Palm_Oil_RAN.pdf?1467043668)
• [9]    The impact of EU consumption on deforestation: Comprehensive analysis of the impact of EU consumption on deforestation, 2013, European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/1.%20Report%20analysis%20of%20impact.pdf (p.56)
• [10]    source: FERN: Stolen Goods: The EU’s complicity in illegal tropical deforestation (http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/Stolen%20Goods_EN_0.pdf)
• [11]    UN Forum on Forest conclusions
• [12]    UN Convention on Biodiversity, Aichi targets: https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/
• [13]    Sustainable Development Goals, Art. 15.2, Target of halting deforestation https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15
• [14]    UN Climate summit, 2014
• [15]    http://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016-NYDF-Goal-2-Assessment-Report.pdf
• [16]    UN FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, Rome 2012, http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2801e/i2801e.pdf
• [17]    Commission Communication of 17 October 2008 (COM(2008)0645 final)
• [18]    EUROSTAT - Supply, transformation and consumption of renewable energies; annual data (nrg_107a), Globiom study ‘The land use change impact of biofuels consumed in the EU’, 2015, and http://www.fediol.be/
• [19]    Source: European Court of Auditors: Certifying biofuels: weaknesses in recognition and supervision of the system (http://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/NewsItem.aspx?nid=7171)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

On the subject of sustainable development, the Commission has this to say: ‘Sustainable Development stands for meeting the needs of present generations without jeopardising the ability of futures generations to meet their own needs.’ The vision of the progressive and long-term development of human society is one of the cornerstones of the EU, and it must therefore also be an aspect of our decision-making process in cases such as the palm oil issue.

20 years have not yet passed since palm oil became the world’s most widely used oil, and in this time it has also become one of the causes of the widespread devastation of diverse ecosystems in the tropics. Thanks to this commodity, the cases of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia have gone down in history as examples of the most rapid deforestation in human history. Unfortunately, owing to the unprecedented speed at which this industry has expanded, not all of the dangers associated with the massive implementation of monoculture plantations were fully understood. Time has shown that the risks were underestimated, and negative connotations relating to the excessive and almost unregulated cultivation of this crop are now evident.

Tropical ecosystems, and in particular rain forests – which account for just 7% of the world’s vegetation – are facing their greatest challenge since the dawn of man. Not only is hugely valuable vegetation being lost, but so too are many animal species, including some that had not even been discovered. The impact of palm oil cultivation is, however, not limited to rainforests. Adjacent marine ecosystems are also under growing pressure. Irreplaceable groundwater is being lost, and rivers are drying out. Massive peat and forest fires are occurring, and the climate is changing in the affected regions, contributing to global climate change. These changes do not only affect tropical flora and fauna; they also affect local inhabitants, whose livelihoods are closely linked to those ecosystems. Palm oil is thus becoming the root of numerous social and economic conflicts. The speed with which these changes are happening is alarming, and it therefore calls for an immediate response.

The EU is the third largest market for palm oil, and it thus plays a significant role in what is happening in the tropical countries in which palm oil is being cultivated. Moreover, European financial institutions are among the largest investors in this sector. They are therefore responsible for the way in which their money is handled. It must be pointed out that many actors play a part in creating these problems, so the responsibility that they bear is shared. The EU and its Member States, as actors in this situation, should face up to their responsibility and take steps to improve the current, desperate situation.

The UN has established the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets out 17 main goals that should be achieved within this timeframe. The palm oil issue relates to all 17 of these goals, but is most closely linked to goals 2, 3, 6, 14, 16 and 17, and in particular to goals 12, 13 and 15. This serves to illustrate just how serious the palm oil issue is and why it is vital that we immediately investigate this issue and search for a satisfactory long-term solution.

OPINION of the Committee on Development (2.3.2017)

for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

on palm oil and deforestation of rainforests
(2016/2222(INI))

Rapporteur: Heidi Hautala

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Development calls on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1.  Recalls that sustainable agriculture, food security and sustainable forest management are core objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); notes with concern that palm oil is an important driver of deforestation, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Colombia and Peru; recalls that forests are essential for climate-change adaptation and mitigation;

2.  Highlights the low deforestation rates of indigenous lands with secured customary systems of tenure and resource management, which have a high potential in terms of the cost-effective reduction of emissions and securing global ecosystem services; calls for the utilisation of international climate and development funds to secure indigenous and community lands and to support indigenous peoples and communities who invest in protecting their lands;

3.  Recalls that poor rural women are especially dependent on forest resources for their subsistence; stresses the necessity to mainstream gender in national forest policies and institutions, so as to promote e.g. the equal access of women to ownership of land and other resources;

4.  Notes with concern that commercial agriculture remains a significant driver of global deforestation and that around half of all tropical deforestation since 2000 has been due to the illegal conversion of forests to commercial agriculture, which may also entail a conflict risk; calls for improved coordination of forest, commercial agriculture, land use and rural development policies with a view to achieving the SDGs and the climate change commitments; stresses the need for policy coherence for development (PCD) also in this field, including on EU renewable energy policy;

5.  Notes with concern that the global rush for land is driven by increasing global demand for biofuel and raw materials, and by speculation on land and agricultural commodities; underlines the Court of Auditors’ Special Report No 18/2016 conclusion that the EU certification system for the sustainability of biofuels is not fully reliable; calls for the EU institutions to include, as part of the reform of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), specific verification procedures regarding land tenure conflicts, forced/child labour, poor working conditions for farmers and dangers to health and safety in its voluntary scheme; calls, likewise, on the EU to take into account the impact of indirect land use change (ILUC) and to include social responsibility requirements in the reform of the RED;

6.  Stresses the key role palm oil production plays in the economies of palm-oil-producing developing countries, as a valuable source of both income and employment;

7.  Reminds the Commission of its communication of 17 October 2008 entitled ‘Addressing the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss’ (COM(2008)0645), emphasising a holistic approach to tropical deforestation, taking into account all deforestation drivers, including palm oil production; reminds the Commission of its objective in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations to halt global forest cover loss by 2030 at the latest and to reduce gross tropical deforestation by at least 50 % by 2020 compared with current levels;

8.  Calls for assistance to be provided to palm-oil-producing countries in the elaboration and enforcement of relevant domestic policies and regulations aiming at minimising the impact of the industry on deforestation, on the ecosystem and on natural heritage;

9.  Calls for the EU to establish a binding regulatory framework to ensure that all agricultural commodity importers’ supply chains are traceable back to the origin of the raw material;

10.  Recalls that Malaysia and Indonesia are the main producers of palm oil, with an estimated 85-90 % of global production, and welcomes the fact that Malaysian primary forest levels have increased since 1990, but remains concerned that current deforestation levels in Indonesia are running at a rate of -0.5 % total loss every five years;

11.  Recalls that the EU is a major importer of products resulting from deforestation, which has devastating impacts on biodiversity; calls for the termination of EU subsidies for biofuels produced from food crops and for a phase-out of such fuels that should not be eligible for meeting all EU 2030 climate and energy targets, in particular biodiesel, which has created an unsustainable demand for palm oil; stresses the need for improving the reliability of voluntary certification schemes, such as the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), in order to better address land grabs, including water grabs, and human rights violations; expresses its deep concern that multiple investigations have revealed widespread abuse of basic human rights at the time of the establishment and running of palm oil plantations in many countries, including forced evictions, armed violence, child labour, debt bondage or discrimination against indigenous communities;

12.  Calls on the Commission to adopt binding regulations on agricultural commodity importers’ supply chains, in order to ensure a fully sustainable palm oil supply chain by 2020, in line with the Amsterdam Palm Oil Declaration; calls in particular for an appropriate and mandatory due diligence framework and traceability mechanisms throughout the supply chain, aligned with globally adopted best standards and taking into account the conflict risk of palm oil commodities; encourages the EU to engage major players, such as India and China, in strengthening responsible and sustainable production of palm oil;

13.  Stresses the importance of improving the conditions under which palm oil is produced through supporting existing certification systems, ensuring that they are easily accessible for SMEs and understandable for consumers, and confirming that the palm oil in question has been produced in line with sustainability guidelines, including the requirement that the product is effectively and transparently traceable throughout the entire supply chain;

14.  Draws attention to the fact that the food industry utilises a notable share of palm oil produced alongside the biofuel industry; calls on the EU to create incentives to work towards a sustainable palm oil uptake of 100 % in Europe by 2020;

15.  Calls on the Commission to work with the palm-oil-producing countries to enhance biodiversity in the plantation areas, notably through measures such as the establishment of wildlife corridors;

16.  Recalls that 30-50 % of fires in Indonesia in 2015, which were typically results of the clearing of land for palm oil plantations and other agricultural use, occurred in coal-rich peatlands, turning Indonesia into one of the greatest contributors to global warming on Earth;

17.  Calls on the Commission to assess the necessity of putting in place mechanisms to address the conversion of forests for commercial agriculture within the FLEGT Action Plan Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) framework and to empower further civil society organisations and native communities and farmer‑landowners in the process; calls for increased EU financial and technical assistance to producer countries and their local authorities with a view to combating corruption and improving governance and transparency and promoting sustainable production methods; recognises the merits of the FLEGT Action Plan, but notes that further efforts are required to decrease the EU forest footprint; calls on the Commission to put forward urgently an EU action plan on deforestation and forest degradation;

18.  Notes that palm oil can be cultivated responsibly and can make a real contribution to the economic development of a country, offering viable economic opportunities to farmers, indigenous peoples and residents of palm-oil- producing communities, provided that no deforestation occurs, that no plantations are established on peatlands, that plantations are managed using modern agroecological techniques to minimise adverse environmental and social outcomes and that land rights, including those of women and indigenous communities, as well as human rights and workers’ rights are respected and strengthened;

19.  Calls on the Commission to set an example for other countries by establishing accounting rules for greenhouse gas emissions from managed wetlands and for land-use changes of wetlands in EU legislation;

20.  Urges that the EU support micro-, small- and family‑based local rural enterprises and promote national and local legal registration of property or possession of land;

21.  Notes that recent research proves that agroforestry polycropping applied to palm oil plantations can offer combined benefits in terms of biodiversity, productivity and positive social outcomes;

22.  Recalls the need to help developing countries to improve their human capacities;

23.  Is alarmed by the negative impacts of irresponsible palm oil production on climate change, land use, soil fertility, biodiversity, forest degradation and the human rights of indigenous peoples, local communities and small farmers, including their customary systems of tenure and resource management, putting at risk the livelihood of populations whose lives depend on the forests for food; calls on governments of palm-oil-producing countries to guarantee the human right to food and nutrition (which implies compliance with the principles of adequacy, availability, accessibility and sustainability) and to commit to and implement the ILO core labour standards and Decent Work agenda; calls for the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, including child labour, improvement of the position of migrant workers, freedom of association, and the establishment of a legitimate, accessible and transparent grievance mechanism, consistent with international best practices;

24.  Urges the Member States and the Commission to establish a definition of forest that includes biological, social and cultural diversity, so as to prevent land grabbing and the destruction of tropical forests resulting from vast palm oil monoculture, as this would jeopardise EU climate change commitments; stresses the need to give priority to native species, thereby protecting ecosystems, habitats and local communities;

25.  Is alarmed that land deals can breach the principle of local communities’ free, prior and informed consent as set out in ILO Convention 169; calls for the EU and its Member States to ensure that EU-based investors adhere fully to international standards on responsible and sustainable investment in agriculture, notably the FAO-OECD Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains, the FAO voluntary guidelines on land tenure, the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; underlines the need to take steps to ensure access to remedy for victims of corporate abuses;

26.  Insists that development financial institutions should ensure that their social and environmental safeguard policies are binding and fully aligned with international human rights law; calls for increased transparency in the funding of private financial institutions and public financial bodies;

27.  Draws attention to the problems associated with land concentration processes and land use changes that arise when monocultures, such as palm oil plantations, are created;

28.  Calls on the Commission to put forward an EU action plan on responsible business conduct.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted	28.2.2017
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	20 1 2
Members present for the final vote	Nirj Deva, Raymond Finch, Doru-Claudian Frunzulică, Enrique Guerrero Salom, Heidi Hautala, Maria Heubuch, Teresa Jiménez-Becerril Barrio, Stelios Kouloglou, Arne Lietz, Linda McAvan, Norbert Neuser, Vincent Peillon, Maurice Ponga, Cristian Dan Preda, Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Elly Schlein, Eleftherios Synadinos, Eleni Theocharous, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Anna Záborská, Željana Zovko
Substitutes present for the final vote	Ádám Kósa, Paul Rübig

OPINION of the Committee on International Trade (24.1.2017)

for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

on palm oil and deforestation of rainforests
(2016/2222(INI))

Rapporteur: Tiziana Beghin

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on International Trade calls on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1.  Recalls that palm oil accounts for about 40 % of global trade in all vegetable oils and that the EU, with around 7 million tonnes per year, is the second largest global importer; calls on the Commission, in cooperation with Member States, to reduce and better control the amount of unsustainably produced palm oil imported from third countries by applying different customs duty schemes for certified sustainable vegetable oil products, including palm-oil products, going beyond certification systems such as Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), RSPO-next in line with the sustainability requirements set up by the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG); asks the Commission also to assist palm-oil producing countries in the drawing up and implementation of relevant incentive policies and regulatory trading frameworks conducive to minimising the impact of the industry on deforestation, loss of biodiversity, unsustainable land use, high application of chemicals and climate change;

2.  Is alarmed by the fact that around half of the area of illegally cleared forests is used for palm oil production for the EU market, and that 18 % of all illegally produced palm oil enters the EU market; notes that the issue of sustainability in the palm oil sector cannot be addressed by voluntary measures and policies alone, but that binding rules and enforced certification schemes are necessary also for palm oil companies; calls on the Commission to propose legislation similar to FLEGT and Conflict Minerals Regulation;

3.  Calls on the Commission, in this regard, to initiate a reform of the Harmonised System (HS) Nomenclature at the World Customs Organisation (WCO) that would allow a distinction between certified sustainable and unsustainable palm oil and their derivatives;

4.  Recalls that Malaysia and Indonesia are the main producers of palm oil, with an estimated 85-90 % of global production, and that the growing demand for this commodity puts pressure on land use and has significant effects on local communities, health and climate change; stresses, in this context, that the EU-Indonesia FTA, EU-Malaysia FTA as well as other Free Trade Agreements should address the concerns regarding non-sustainably produced vegetable oils, including palm oil, and their derivatives within the negotiations, along with binding and enforceable sustainable development chapters covering deforestation, environment, human rights abuses, child and forced labour, especially women, forced evictions and discrimination of indigenous communities, core ILO conventions and their implementation; in this regard, emphasises that the cultivation of many palm oil substitutes could generate greater level of greenhouse gas emissions and cause further and speedier deforestation process;

5.  Recalls that Indonesia has recently become the third highest polluter of CO2 in the world and suffers from decreasing biodiversity, with several endangered wildlife species on the verge of extinction;

6.  Welcomes that Malaysian primary forest levels have increased since 1990, but remains concerned that current deforestation levels in Indonesia are running at a rate of -0.5% total loss every five years;

7.  Additionally underlines the importance and compelling need for further complementary multi-stakeholder actions and multilateral, EU-level or national initiatives aimed at the gradual phasing out of trade in unsustainable palm oil, in accordance with WTO norms and regulations; reiterates that, in order to ensure the highest degree of effectiveness, these initiatives should take into account the different production systems and country-specific factors in assessing the degree of socio-economic and environmental concerns;

8.  Accordingly, urges the financial sector to include sustainability considerations in their investment and lending operations;

9.  Stresses the importance of improving the situation through appropriate certification, easily accessible, and without discrimination against, for smallholders and SMEs and understandable for consumers, confirming that the palm oil in question has been genuinely produced, in line with sustainability guidelines and globally adopted best standards and practices, without harm to the environment, biodiversity, local communities, indigenous people and society and that the product is effectively and transparently traceable throughout the entire supply chain; is convinced that voluntary certification schemes could work better, if they are further strengthened, using stricter criteria than current standards, embedded in due diligence action by relevant stakeholders, that legal action is taken against illegal practices, and that consumer information is substantially improved; calls on the Commission to launch information campaigns and to provide consumers with comprehensive information on the consequences of the unsustainable production of palm oil;

10.  Highlights that, in order to avoid a disruptive impact on international trade, these certification schemes should be developed through an inclusive participatory process involving all the relevant actors along the supply chain, from all countries involved;

11.  In this regard, strongly welcomes, among other initiatives, the RSPO, yet stresses the need for its continuous enhancement through, but not limited to, the broadening of its stakeholder representation by better inclusion of SMEs, and a strengthened audit and enforcement capacity;

12.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to continue research into suitable alternatives to biodiesel derived from palm oil;

13.  Considers that sustainability of palm oil is legally defined in the Renewable Energy Directive for bioliquids and in the Fuel Quality Directive for biofuels while no legal criteria exist for palm oil, as well as for any other vegetable oils, including rapeseed and sunflower, used in the food industry; therefore calls for such definition and asks the Commission to study the possibility to extend the sustainability criteria for other uses of the same crop in line with WTO rules and regulations and OECD guidelines;

14.  Points to the need to ensure that certification schemes guarantee genuinely sustainable palm oil under protocols that will effectively protect biodiversity and safeguard working conditions while helping to keep deforestation levels close to zero;

15.  Stresses that, under the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Regulation and voluntary partnership agreements between the EU and timber producing countries, the first fully operational licensing scheme is with Indonesia, as of 15 November 2016; calls for the EU to maintain commitment to FLEGT voluntary partnership agreements and ensure they cover conversion timber from palm oil development; suggests that EU policies for the palm oil sector learn from FLEGT principles of multi-stakeholder dialogue and tackling deep-seated governance issues in producer countries, as well as supportive EU import policies; continue to initiate voluntary partnership agreements, such as FLEGT; notes that a similar approach could also be taken with regard to palm oil, and that it could lead to improved controls on the palm industry in countries of destination;

16.  Considers such initiatives to be highly beneficial, and calls for their further promotion and expansion to other commodities as well.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted	24.1.2017
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	35 4 2
Members present for the final vote	Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Maria Arena, Tiziana Beghin, David Borrelli, David Campbell Bannerman, Salvatore Cicu, Marielle de Sarnez, Santiago Fisas Ayxelà, Christofer Fjellner, Eleonora Forenza, Karoline Graswander-Hainz, Heidi Hautala, Yannick Jadot, Bernd Lange, David Martin, Emmanuel Maurel, Anne-Marie Mineur, Sorin Moisă, Alessia Maria Mosca, Franz Obermayr, Artis Pabriks, Franck Proust, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández, Tokia Saïfi, Matteo Salvini, Marietje Schaake, Helmut Scholz, Joachim Schuster, Joachim Starbatty, Adam Szejnfeld, Hannu Takkula, Iuliu Winkler, Jan Zahradil
Substitutes present for the final vote	Eric Andrieu, Bendt Bendtsen, Edouard Ferrand, Syed Kamall, Seán Kelly, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells
Substitutes under Rule 200(2) present for the final vote	Laura Agea

OPINION of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (2.3.2017)

for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

on palm oil and deforestation of rainforests
(2016/2222(INI))

Rapporteur: Florent Marcellesi

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development calls on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1.  Notes the increased use of palm oil both as a biofuel and in processed food, where its use has increased compared with that of other vegetable oils, with some 50 % of packaged goods now containing palm oil;

2.  Notes that palm oil accounts for around one third of total global consumption of vegetable oil, and some 60 % of the global trade in vegetable oils;

3.  Is concerned about the potential risk posed to the environment and society by the forecasted tripling of worldwide demand for palm oil in the coming decades;

Use of other fats and oils

4.  Notes that palm oil is used as an ingredient and/or substitute by the agri-food industry because of its productivity and chemical properties, for example its ease of storage, melting point and lower price as a raw material;

5.  Notes also that palm kernel cake is used in the EU for animal feed, especially for fattening dairy and beef cattle;

6.  Notes that rapeseed cake/by-products may also be used as a protein-rich animal feed that can decrease dependence on global imports of soybean;

7.  Highlights in this context that social, health and environmental standards are stricter in the EU;

8.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in place policy to make greater use of plentiful supplies of butter fat produced in the EU instead, in order to decrease dependency on palm oil imported from third countries;

Labelling

9.  Welcomes the provision under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers for mandatory labelling of types of vegetable oils, including palm oil, in the list of ingredients of packaged foodstuffs;

10.  Insists on the implementation of this mandatory labelling by Member States and processors, to enable traceability and informed purchasing decisions;

11.  Notes the great potential of using digital means to offer information to consumers on the sustainability of palm oil contained in processed goods, for example via barcode scanning apps;

12.  Calls on the Commission to provide comprehensive data on the use and consumption of palm oil in Europe and its importation into the EU;

Health

13.  Highlights the findings of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) study[1] and other studies which indicated that processed vegetable oils, and in particular palm oil, contain genotoxic and carcinogenic contaminants formed during the refining process or at high temperatures, with potential health implications;

14.  Urges the Member States to continue to ensure compliance with food safety legislation and the labelling of products manufactured using vegetable fats, including palm oil;

15.  Notes with concern that in some Member States palm oil continues to be used in the manufacture of dairy products such as cheese without this being indicated on the product, which is misleading to consumers;

16.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to carry out campaigns to inform consumers about the specific characteristics of palm oil in order to protect their health and encourage informed consumption;

Drivers of deforestation and geographical scale/range

17.  Notes that palm oil production is a major driver of deforestation on an alarming scale in tropical areas;

18.  Notes that 73 % of global deforestation arises from the clearing of land for agricultural commodities, with 40 % of global deforestation caused by conversion to large-scale monocultural oil palm plantations[2];

19.  Notes that the majority of palm oil production takes place in Malaysia and Indonesia, together accounting for some 85 % of global production, with production also significant or increasing in Papua New Guinea, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Columbia and Peru;

20.  Notes also the rapid scale and acceleration of change, with areas converted to palm oil doubling or tripling over one or two decades in those seven principle exporting countries, with up to a 15 % loss of forest cover in just over a decade;

21.  Notes the complexity of the factors driving global deforestation, such as clearing land for cattle or arable crops, in particular to produce soya feed for EU livestock, as well as palm oil, urban sprawl, logging and other intensive agricultural activity;

22.  Recognises that a comprehensive approach is needed that takes account of all drivers of deforestation, with action and collaboration in both producing and consuming countries;

Environmental effects

23.  Recognises the importance of preserving the rainforest and biodiversity; is deeply concerned about the conversion of extremely biodiverse tropical forest to monocultural palm oil plantations at the expense of irreplaceable natural habitats and ecosystems containing countless critically endangered and endemic species;

24.  Notes the effects of large oil palm monocultures, which increase pest presence, water pollution from agrochemicals and soil erosion, and impact the carbon sinking and ecology of the whole region, hampering the migration of animal species;

25.  Notes that the burning of tropical forest and peaty soils, inter alia to convert land for inputs to the agri-food and energy systems, is associated with heavy environmental damage, including the release of high volumes of greenhouse gases;

Impact on local communities, land grabs and small farmers

26.  Notes the very negative effects of conversion to monocultural palm oil plantations on forest dwellers, including small-scale farmers, who are increasingly being dispossessed of their land or moved to the least fertile areas;

27.  Notes with concern the prevalence of logging, land grabbing and illegal or forced acquisition of plantation land; notes further that destruction of the rainforest also destroys the livelihoods of those subsistence communities dependent upon it;

28.  Notes the social injustice and poor working conditions which prevail on some plantations;

29.  Calls therefore on the relevant authorities in source countries to respect human rights, including the land rights of forest dwellers, and to strengthen environmental, social and health commitments, taking into account the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) voluntary guidelines on land tenure[3];

Rural development and agroecological practices

30.  Considers that preservation of the rainforest should be combined with sustainable rural development to prevent poverty and promote employment in the areas concerned, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to contribute to regional socio-economic development in this way;

31.  Recognises the role of oil palm as part of diverse intercropping systems in ensuring valuable income for smallholders;

32.  Considers that efforts to halt deforestation must include local capacity-building, technological aid, the sharing of best practices between communities and support to help smallholders make the most effective use of their existing croplands without resorting to further forest conversion; stresses, in this context, the strong potential of agroecological practices to maximise ecosystem functions via mixed, high-diversity planting, agroforestry and permaculture techniques, without resorting to input dependency or monocultures;

Biofuels

Growth of palm oil as a biofuel

33.  Notes that in Europe demand for palm oil is largely due to its use as a biofuel;

34.  Notes that 70 % of biofuel consumed in the EU is grown/produced in the EU and, of the biofuel imported into the EU, 23 % is palm oil, mainly from Indonesia, and another 6 % is soya[4];

35.  Notes, while its uptake varies between Member States, the huge growth in palm oil as a first generation biodiesel, increasing by 2.6 million tonnes between 2010 and 2014, representing an increase of 606 %, while the total share of palm oil in EU biodiesel consumption grew from 6 % in 2010 to nearly one third in 2014 (31 %), with almost half of palm oil used in the EU being used as transport fuel[5];

Indirect effects, including indirect land use change (ILUC)

36.  Notes the indirect effects of EU biofuel demand associated with tropical forest destruction;

37.  Notes that certain biofuel production pathways increase overall greenhouse gas emissions when emissions from indirect land use change (ILUC) are taken into account[6], with palm oil biodiesel being the highest emitting biofuel[7];

38.  Requests therefore that the full energy cost of growing biofuel crops is taken into account in the analysis of biodiesel as an alternative fuel and that ILUC emissions from biofuel production be fully taken into account in the Renewable Energy Directive;

39.  Considers, in line with the principle of Policy Coherence for Development, that biofuels should not cause deforestation nor impact on food security and the right to food in third countries, aiming at phasing out public support for biofuels produced from palm oil;

First and second generation biofuels

40.  Notes the dominance of first generation biofuels and the lack of commercial availability of second generation biofuels; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support further development of next generation biofuels in order to avoid deforestation;

41.  Calls for the rapid phasing-out of all incentives for biofuels derived from palm oil, as these drive competition for land at the expense of food production, result in deforestation and therefore significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions;

42.  Refers to the ‘GLOBIOM’ study showing the strikingly high level of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to palm oil;

43.  Calls for a mandatory origin labelling system for biofuel ingredients;

Supply chain transparency 

44.  Considers traceability in the food chain to be essential for importers and consumers, particularly for the purposes of being able to distinguish between legally and illegally produced or sustainably and non-sustainably sourced palm oil and its by-products;

45.  Notes that supply chain transparency allows access to information on palm oil originating from high-risk areas;

Certification

46.  Recognises the important role and potential of the various types of voluntary sustainability certification schemes for palm oil products, and considers that they must take into account the environmental and social impacts of its production;

47.  Notes that the Court of Auditors concluded[8] that some certification schemes do not guarantee genuinely sustainable palm oil, and are thus not effective in ensuring relevant standards and compliance therewith;

48.  Notes in particular that the Court of Auditors found that some schemes were insufficiently transparent or had biased governance structures that risked conflicts of interest and ineffective communication, criticised the standards of sustainability criteria, including land tenure conflicts, forced/child labour and poor working conditions for farmers, and also found that these failings resulted in unreliable statistics and overestimation of the volumes of biofuel certified to be sustainable;

49.  Is therefore also concerned that the EU certification system for the sustainability of biofuels is not fully reliable, and considers that certification schemes should be further developed and improved constantly in order to ensure genuinely sustainable palm oil production and effective compliance with the relevant standards;

50.  Calls for the relevant recommendations of the Court to be implemented, as agreed by the Commission;

51.  Calls on the Commission to ensure trustworthy standards and to work towards establishing strong and binding frameworks to guarantee the sustainability of palm oil;

52.  Calls for the by-products of the oil palm (kernel meal or cake) used in the EU to also be subject to certification;

Initiatives

53.  Welcomes any multi-stakeholder initiative which aims at setting and implementing ambitious standards for sustainable palm oil production, including human, land and labour rights;

54.  Supports the goals set out in the UN’s Sustainable Palm Oil Initiative and the Amsterdam Declaration of 2015 for a no-deforestation and no-conflict supply chain by 2020;

55.  Notes the potential of initiatives such as the New York Declaration on Forests[9] aimed at helping to meet private-sector goals to eliminate deforestation resulting from production of agricultural commodities such as palm, soya, paper and beef by 2020; notes that some companies have more ambitious targets, but while 60 % of companies dealing in palm oil have committed to such initiatives, so far only 2 % are able to trace the palm oil they trade to its source[10];

56.  Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the industry to support initiatives such as the High Carbon Stock (HCS) approach, which determines areas suitable for planting with oil palms, e.g. degraded lands with low carbon storage and low environmental value, thereby supporting genuinely sustainable palm oil that can be produced without converting forests or interfering with ecosystems with a high conservation value;

Dialogue for better governance in producer countries

57.  Calls on the Commission to step up dialogue where appropriate with governments of palm-oil-producing countries and companies, including through bilateral agreements with producer countries, to encourage effective environmental legislation preventing damaging land use changes and to increase environmental standards, biodiversity conservation, human, social and land rights and labour laws, transparency on land tenure and corporate ownership, and consultation of local communities to avoid land grabbing;

EU legal framework, including calls on the Commission

58.  Is aware that the EU is the third largest importer of palm oil and palm kernel worldwide, and stresses the need to introduce rules that ensure the genuine sustainability of palm oil production;

59.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen existing control instruments and to use every means necessary to prevent the import into the EU of palm oil produced as a result of deforestation, to establish a regulatory framework of strong and enforceable measures to guarantee that all actors throughout the entire supply chain, including European financial institutions, and the investments and loans they provide, are only involved in genuinely sustainable palm oil production that ensures protection of forests, forest peoples and biodiversity;

60.  Calls on the Commission to clearly define sanctions for non-compliance, while maintaining trading relations with third countries;

Precedence and existing legislation

61.  Looks to the model of the cocoa sector to establish international standards for sustainable palm oil production, and notes that mechanisms similar to the EU Timber Regulation can help ensure that only legally produced products are placed on the EU market;

62.  Calls for the inclusion in EU biofuels policy of effective sustainability criteria that protect land of high biodiversity value, high carbon stocks and peatland, and that include social criteria;

Use of bilateral agreements and trade

63.  Notes that mechanisms such as the Voluntary Partnership Agreements can help clarify legality problems associated with land grabs and forest conversion by triggering national land reforms and transparency on land tenure;

64.  Calls for bilateral agreements to be used as a catalyst for effective environmental protection, including applying differential tariff schemes depending on whether the palm oil is sustainable or not, or excluding unsustainable palm oil and its derivatives from free trade agreements;

65.  Calls on the Commission to include a ‘no deforestation’ guarantee and the need to respect community rights in trade agreement negotiations with palm-oil-producing countries;

Assistance and capacity-building

66.  Insists on the importance of supporting developing countries with the means necessary to improve governance, enforcement and judicial procedures at local, regional and national level, in order to protect forests and peatlands, and to expand agroecological farming practices;

67.  Calls on the Commission to encourage the exchange of best practices on transparency and cooperation between governments and companies that use palm oil and, together with the Member States, to work with third countries to develop and implement national laws and to respect customary community land rights that ensure that forests, forest peoples and their livelihoods are protected;

Existing EU commitments and action plan

68.  Calls on the Commission to honour the EU’s international commitments, inter alia, those made within the framework of the Paris Climate Conference (COP 21), the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF)[11], the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)[12], the New York Declaration on Forests, the Sustainable Development Goal to halt deforestation by 2020[13] and the FLEGT Action Plan, and to step up its efforts in developing a detailed EU action plan to visibly and emphatically protect forests and forest peoples’ rights and come forward with concrete proposals to halt deforestation and forest degradation that include provisions on trade in agricultural commodities in particular palm oil, and on preventing the classification of monocultural plantations as reforestation;

69.  Underlines the need to place social and environmental criteria, including the right of access to land, above the logic of mere financial profit in the evaluation of various forest strategies;

70.  Calls for more research at EU level into sustainable animal feed in order for alternatives to oil palm products to be developed for European agriculture.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted	28.2.2017
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	34 3 3
Members present for the final vote	John Stuart Agnew, Clara Eugenia Aguilera García, Eric Andrieu, Daniel Buda, Nicola Caputo, Matt Carthy, Viorica Dăncilă, Michel Dantin, Paolo De Castro, Jean-Paul Denanot, Albert Deß, Herbert Dorfmann, Luke Ming Flanagan, Beata Gosiewska, Martin Häusling, Anja Hazekamp, Esther Herranz García, Jan Huitema, Peter Jahr, Ivan Jakovčić, Jarosław Kalinowski, Elisabeth Köstinger, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Mairead McGuinness, Ulrike Müller, James Nicholson, Marijana Petir, Laurenţiu Rebega, Bronis Ropė, Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Tibor Szanyi, Marc Tarabella, Marco Zullo
Substitutes present for the final vote	Franc Bogovič, Michela Giuffrida, Florent Marcellesi, Anthea McIntyre, Susanne Melior, Sofia Ribeiro

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

34	+
ALDE	Jan Huitema, Ivan Jakovčić, Ulrike Müller
ECR	Beata Gosiewska, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Anthea McIntyre, James Nicholson
EPP	Franc Bogovič, Daniel Buda, Michel Dantin, Albert Deß, Herbert Dorfmann, Esther Herranz García, Peter Jahr, Jarosław Kalinowski, Elisabeth Köstinger, Mairead McGuinness, Marijana Petir, Sofia Ribeiro, Czesław Adam Siekierski
EUL/NGL	Matt Carthy
Greens/EFA	Martin Häusling, Florent Marcellesi, Bronis Ropė
S&D	Clara Eugenia Aguilera García, Eric Andrieu, Nicola Caputo, Viorica Dăncilă, Paolo De Castro, Jean-Paul Denanot, Michela Giuffrida, Susanne Melior, Tibor Szanyi, Marc Tarabella

3	-
EFDD	Marco Zullo
EUL/NGL	Luke Ming Flanagan, Anja Hazekamp

3	0
EFDD	John Stuart Agnew
ENF	Laurenţiu Rebega
EUL/NGL	Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez

Key to symbols:

+  :  in favour

-  :  against

0  :  abstention

• [1]  EFSA Journal 2016;14(5):4426 [159 pp.], https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4426
• [2]  The impact of EU consumption on deforestation: Comprehensive analysis of the impact of EU consumption on deforestation, 2013, European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/1.%20Report%20analysis%20of%20impact.pdf (p.56)
• [3]  UN FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, Rome 2012, http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2801e/i2801e.pdf
• [4]  EUROSTAT - Supply, transformation and consumption of renewable energies; annual data (nrg_107a), Globiom study ‘The land use change impact of biofuels consumed in the EU’, 2015, and http://www.fediol.be/
• [5]  Ibid.
• [6]  Commission Renewable Energy Progress Report (SWD(2015)0117).
• [7]  Globiom study ‘The land use change impact of biofuels consumed in the EU’, 2015.
• [8]  European Court of Auditors’ Special Report No 18/2016 (2015 Discharge): The EU system for the certification of sustainable biofuels: http://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR16_18/SR_BIOFUELS_EN.pdf
• [9]  UN Climate Summit, 2014.
• [10]  http://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016-NYDF-Goal-2-Assessment-Report.pdf
• [11]  UN Forum on Forest conclusions.
• [12]  UN Convention on Biodiversity, Aichi targets: https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/
• [13]  Sustainable Development Goals, Art. 15.2, Target of halting deforestation: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Date adopted	9.3.2017
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	56 1 0
Members present for the final vote	Marco Affronte, Margrete Auken, Zoltán Balczó, Ivo Belet, Simona Bonafè, Biljana Borzan, Lynn Boylan, Paul Brannen, Soledad Cabezón Ruiz, Nessa Childers, Alberto Cirio, Mireille D’Ornano, Seb Dance, Angélique Delahaye, Mark Demesmaeker, Ian Duncan, Stefan Eck, Bas Eickhout, José Inácio Faria, Francesc Gambús, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Arne Gericke, Jens Gieseke, Sylvie Goddyn, Françoise Grossetête, Jytte Guteland, Benedek Jávor, Karin Kadenbach, Kateřina Konečná, Urszula Krupa, Peter Liese, Valentinas Mazuronis, Gilles Pargneaux, Bolesław G. Piecha, Pavel Poc, Julia Reid, Frédérique Ries, Annie Schreijer-Pierik, Davor Škrlec, Renate Sommer, Claudiu Ciprian Tănăsescu, Ivica Tolić, Estefanía Torres Martínez, Nils Torvalds, Adina-Ioana Vălean
Substitutes present for the final vote	Clara Eugenia Aguilera García, Nicola Caputo, Albert Deß, Eleonora Evi, Merja Kyllönen, James Nicholson, Gabriele Preuß, Christel Schaldemose, Bart Staes, Carlos Zorrinho
Substitutes under Rule 200(2) present for the final vote	Edouard Martin, Lieve Wierinck

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

56	+
ALDE	Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Valentinas Mazuronis, Frédérique Ries, Nils Torvalds, Lieve Wierinck
ECR	Mark Demesmaeker, Ian Duncan, Arne Gericke, Urszula Krupa, James Nicholson, Bolesław G. Piecha
EFDD	Eleonora Evi
ENF	Mireille D’Ornano, Sylvie Goddyn
GUE/NGL	Lynn Boylan, Stefan Eck, Kateřina Konečná, Merja Kyllönen, Estefanía Torres Martínez
NI	Zoltán Balczó
PPE	Ivo Belet, Alberto Cirio, Angélique Delahaye, Albert Deß, José Inácio Faria, Francesc Gambús, Jens Gieseke, Françoise Grossetête, Peter Liese, Annie Schreijer-Pierik, Renate Sommer, Ivica Tolić, Adina-Ioana Vălean
S&D	Clara Eugenia Aguilera García, Simona Bonafè, Biljana Borzan, Paul Brannen, Soledad Cabezón Ruiz, Nicola Caputo, Nessa Childers, Seb Dance, Jytte Guteland, Karin Kadenbach, Edouard Martin, Gilles Pargneaux, Pavel Poc, Gabriele Preuß, Christel Schaldemose, Claudiu Ciprian Tănăsescu, Carlos Zorrinho
VERTS/ALE	Marco Affronte, Margrete Auken, Bas Eickhout, Benedek Jávor, Bart Staes, Davor Škrlec

1	-
EFDD	Julia Reid

0	0

Key to symbols:

+  :  in favour

-  :  against

0  :  abstention