A warming climate is wreaking havoc on one of the world's most important cooking oils, causing lower yields and billions of dollars in annual losses.
What's happening?
The Jakarta Globe reported concerning results from a study by the SMART Research Institute on oil palms, the trees whose fruits produce palm oil.
Researchers studied oil palm growth throughout key plantation regions across Indonesia. They found that drought conditions, brought on by changing global temperatures, caused lower yields in oil palms, which led to palm oil production declines of nearly 10%, year over year.
If that decline continues, researchers said, the palm oil industry could lose $4.6 billion per year.
"Climate change is becoming more unpredictable, and its impact on plantations is significant," Reni Sabawati of the SMART Research Institute said.
Why is palm oil important?
The study emphasizes the threat that climate change brings to our global food supply.
The spread of oil palms is controversial, as they can overtake native tropical forests. But traditionally, oil palms are a high-yielding, relatively inexpensive crop. This has made palm oil cheaper to produce and purchase than other vegetable oils, which makes it a key cooking oil in developing countries.
In the United States, it's rarely used for cooking, but the World Wildlife Fund noted that palm oil is in more than half of packaged products, such as lipstick, soap, and detergent.
Palm oil is far from the only foodstuff impacted by climate. Nearly 2 billion people lived under drought conditions in 2022 and 2023, which has reduced crop yields and access to drinking water.
And as food supply decreases, prices increase. A 2024 study forecasted that food prices will go up by more than 3% each year simply because of rising global temperatures.
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Cheapest option 💰 What's being done about palm oil?
With drought conditions likely to worsen in coming years, researchers are working on "genetically enhanced" oil palm seedlings that can withstand those conditions. So far, the results are promising.
Two specific varieties of seedlings resulted in yields that were 14 to 27% higher than standard varieties, the Globe reported.
"We can't promise a 100% drought-resistant variety, but these cultivars can greatly reduce productivity losses caused by water shortages," Reni said.
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