Tan Sri Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron is the CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board Council, and he often cites the criticisms particularly by foreign NGOs on Malaysia’s oil palm expansion through deforestation as unfair, hypocritical, and careless.

“How is it,” Tan Sri says incredulously, “that the UK produces 18 million tonnes of coal per year and the NGOs do not seem to notice the GHG emitted but they can detect burning of a few hectares of forest for agricultural conversion in Indonesia 10,000 km away?”

This amount of coal, he further points out, produces 66 million tonnes of CO2, which also equivalent to a deforestation of 378,000 ha of rainforest, a number which more than double of Malaysia’s annual oil palm expansion rate.

Moreover, boycotting of palm oil products or stopping oil palm expansion threaten the livelihood of oil palm smallholders in Malaysia.

So, are these NGOs unfair and careless to pick on Malaysia? Of course. And are they hypocrites because they choose to focus on Malaysia when they have their own environmental concerns in their countries? Of course.