Polling shows Brits want to stop deforestation – but they don’t know how

However, there are some cases where companies push this principle to its limits. Brands have a responsibility to tell the truth, especially if they are using complex real-world issues as a marketing tool. Nowhere is this more obvious than on environmental issues. Eco-conscious consumers face a minefield of competing claims from brands about how green their products are. Sadly, some of those claims are misleading.

Take deforestation, for example. No one wants to think their weekly shop is contributing to chopping down the Amazon. Brands go out of their way to assure customers their supply chains don’t fuel deforestation. That’s a good thing – until those claims start stretching the truth. For example, when products proclaim they are ‘palm oil-free’ – an increasingly frequent presence on product packaging – the implication is they are better for the planet. The reality is quite different.

Palm oil is ubiquitous. According to the WWF, it is an ingredient in almost half of products on supermarket shelves, ranging from food to makeup to toiletries. But ask most average punters what it is, and you will be met with blank stares and lots of mentions of deforestation. It has undergone a sustainability revolution in recent years, but ‘palm oil-free’ labels reinforce out-of-date negative stereotypes.

Many believe – wrongly – that avoiding palm oil in their shopping helps stop deforestation. New polling from Ferrero and Chester Zoo shows the extent of the problem. Just 39% of British consumers say they have a vague idea of what sustainable palm oil is. Only 11% say they clearly understand it. Meanwhile, more than half – 58% – actively avoid products containing palm oil because of this confusion.

In reality, recent decades have seen a sustainability boom in palm oil. Global Forest Watch data reveals Malaysia, one of the world’s top palm oil producers, has seen a 57% drop in ‘primary forest loss,’ a key deforestation metric, and even kept a promise to maintain forest cover over half its landmass. In the field of environmental policymaking, it’s rare to see ambitious promises being kept.

Exporting palm oil en masse while slamming the brakes on deforestation once seemed impossible. Thanks to a combination of free-market initiatives and regulatory incentives, Malaysia has made it work. A whopping 83% of Malaysian palm oil now carries a certification for ‘no deforestation, peat and exploitation.’ Sustainably produced palm oil is in plentiful supply.

Even before these innovations, avoiding palm oil was not a good way to stop deforestation. If a product’s recipe calls for a seed oil, removing palm oil just means adding another oil in its place such as rapeseed, sunflower, or soybean. Those products are up to ten times less land-efficient than palm oil, meaning you have to cut down a lot more trees to produce the same amount of oil.

Unfortunately, fast-moving consumer goods brands have not yet incorporated these important facts into their marketing. Instead, they cling to boasts about being ‘palm-oil free.’ This disregards companies’ basic responsibility to make truthful claims and keep consumers well-informed about their products. Brands must stop clinging to the out-of-date ‘palm oil is bad’ narrative.

‘Palm oil-free’ labels are not harmless. They misinform consumers and contribute to a widespread misconception. It is incumbent on brands, whether they use palm oil or not, to avoid making misleading statements about their products’ environmental credentials.

As well as commissioning polling, Chester Zoo publishes teaching resources and even online games for kids to learn about sustainable palm oil. Those companies who have planted their flag in their ‘palm oil-free’ products being eco-friendly would do well to explore those resources before redesigning their packaging and coming up with new marketing campaigns.

Jason Reed is a policy analyst and political commentator for a wide range of global media outlets. Follow him @JasonReed624 and read more on his website,jason-reed.co.uk