The rapid expansion of palm oil plantations in the world’s tropical regions, particularly Indonesian Borneo, is becoming an increasingly significant source of global carbon emissions, a new study says.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers from Stanford and Yale universities project that the continued expansion of plantations will add more than 558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (more…)

Malaysia is a country located in Southeast Asia and shares land borders with Brunei, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as maritime borders with the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore. It is located in the tropics region and is considered a “megadiverse country” because of the large number of endemic fauna and flora. Because of its heavy biodiversity along with a (more…)

As global agricultural companies turn to Africa, a U.S. firm is planning a massive oil palm plantation in Cameroon that it says will benefit local villagers. But critics argue that the project would destroy some of the key remaining forests in the West African nation and threaten species-rich reserves. (more…)

The world’s second-biggest palm oil company has agreed to preserve critical Indonesian rainforest and peatland as a result of pressure from major food processors and conservationists.

While Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) will still be able to exploit some areas of forest, company officials have vowed to spare (more…)

Biofuels in Europe are struggling to meet the most basic thresholds for sustainability, according to the Times of London, which claims to have seen a government study that shows fossil fuels are better for the environment than “green fuels” made from crops.

The findings show that the United Kingdom’s biofuels mandate would result in millions of acres of forest being logged or burnt down and converted to plantations.

The study finds that some of the most basic crops used to make biofuels fail to meet the minimum sustainability standard set by the European Commission. (more…)