The Times published this morning an article by Ben Webster highlighting how U.K. defence contracts – responsible for thousands of jobs – could be at risk from the EU’s proposed ban on palm oil biofuels.
The deal, worth more than £1.5 billion, could be in trouble should the EU move forward with the proposed Palm Oil ban.
The Times revealed that emails exchanged between the UK Ministry of Defence and Malaysian officials described how an outright ban “could affect our bilateral relationships and potentially defence sales.”
Webster writes:
“Malaysia plans to buy up to 18 Typhoon fighter jets to replace grounded Russian MiG-29s. BAE Systems hopes to secure the contract, worth more than £1.5 billion. BAE employs 5,000 people directly in the UK on the Typhoon programme and there are 9,600 other jobs in the UK supply chain.
The European parliament voted in January to phase out palm oil in biofuel, prompting a backlash from growers in Malaysia, where the issue could influence the outcome of tomorrow’s general election.
Mah Siew Keong, a Malaysian government minister, has threatened a tit-for-tat boycott of European goods.”
Three million Malaysians, including 650,000 small farmers, all dependent on income from oil palm plantations, are at risk of being stripped of their livelihood should the EU vote to put an operational ban in place by 2021.
Read the full article in The Times online here.
Faces of Palm Oil is a joint project of the National Association of Small Holders (NASH), the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), the Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (DOPPA), the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (SALCRA) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) that seeks to advocate on behalf of Malaysian small farmers. To learn more, visit http://facesofpalmoil.org