My name is Oscar, I’m 15 and I want to do everything I can to protect our environment. I was really upset and angry when I found out about the huge deforestation that is involved in the palm oil industry, and that’s why I’m calling on Tesco to ditch palm oil from their own-brand products.
Iceland has already banned palm oil from their own brand products, so we know that this is possible for Tesco too. As the largest supermarket in the UK (and using over 40,000 tonnes of palm oil every year!), Tesco has an opportunity to set an example to other supermarkets and food producers that destroying swathes of forests for palm oil is not acceptable.
I run a online cause called ‘Justice4Earth’ (@justice4earth on Instagram and @justice4earth on Twitter) where I raise awareness about environmental issues. I found out that palm oil is literally everywhere: from shampoos, toothpastes and detergents to sandwiches, chocolate, biscuits and biofuel. And it’s one of the most environmentally-damaging industries: this is because the production of palm oil means trees are destroyed - in 2015 alone it was responsible for the clearing of over 66,000 square miles of rainforest worldwide.
The global hotspot for palm oil production is Indonesia, where the clearing of rainforest for plantations (at a rate of one football field every 20 seconds!) is driving many animals such as the Orangutan into extinction.
Tackling the palm oil industry is critical in saving our rainforests. Tesco should remove palm oil from their own-brand products, and only reintroduce it when there is a legitimate, environmentally sustainable palm oil product.
Please sign my petition to call on Tesco to ditch palm oil and find an environmentally sustainable alternative.