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Nigeria and Indonesia have jointly criticised the European Union's planned certification policy for oil palm products, describing it as selective and aimed at protecting Europe's domestic oilseed market.
Speaking at a book launch held in Abuja on 4 September 2026, oil palm development expert Lawal Olusola Lawal, who also serves as the Representative of the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria Ary Raharyo, argued that the EU's attempt to label oil palm as an environmental threat is misleading. The two men view the policy as protectionist by design, structured to favour Europe's own alternatives to palm oil.
The European certification framework requires that palm oil imports be verified against strict environmental, social, and legal standards, primarily through compliance with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Both speakers addressed the presentation of Lawal's new book, titled 'Trade Protectionism Disguised as Climate Advocacy: Why Europe is Demonising the Oil Palm Tree'. They insisted that sustainability must be a shared global responsibility, not a tool for protectionism or discrimination.
Lawal, who is also a Senior Agricultural Officer with Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, urged Nigeria and other producing nations such as Indonesia to speak out and change the prevailing narrative around the sector and the environment. He dismissed claims that oil palm cultivation has an inherently negative impact on the environment.
'The dominant global narrative surrounding palm oil has been hijacked by selective environmental policies that threaten the survival of millions of farmers who produce this crop,' he said. 'But the new advocacy for sustainability must be fair, science-based, and inclusive. It is something that should not be selective. We must prove that environmental sustainability and economic justice do not have to be mutually exclusive.'
He questioned the rationale for singling out oil palm while other oil-producing crops are exempt, asking rhetorically: 'Why leave out soybean, rapeseed (canola), sunflower, and peanut?'
He continued: 'The oil palm is not just a commodity crop. It is a lifeline, an industrial crop. It feeds families, creates jobs, drives the rural economy, and lifts communities out of poverty. Indonesia has been able to use this crop to lift millions of people out of poverty, and I hope very soon we will be able to replicate that in our country, Nigeria, the original home of the oil palm crop.'
Lawal explained that the book is intended to launch a crucial global conversation and to defend millions of smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia whose livelihoods depend on the crop.
'Let me be clear: this book does not oppose environmental protection. We must safeguard our forests and practice sustainable agriculture. This is more than just pages bound together. It is a voice for our farmers, a challenge to an unfair narrative, and a clarion call for justice in global trade,' he concluded.
Source: The Nation (thenationonlineng.net)