(21 November 2018) – The vast majority of Europeans don’t know they’re putting palm oil in their tanks when filling up with diesel and are opposed to it. Environmental NGOs join forces and launch pan-European campaign to tell the European Commission #NotInMyTank.
.In a poll of 4,500 Europeans conducted in nine countries by Ipsos , 82% of citizens surveyed were not aware of the fact that diesel fuel has palm oil added to it.
The EU subsidises it as a ‘green biodiesel’, even though it’s actually three times worse for the climate than regular diesel because of the deforestation it causes.
The European Parliament already voted to stop promoting palm oil in biodiesel as a ‘green fuel’, but now it’s up to the European Commission, on 1st February 2019, to make it happen.
An international coalition of environmental NGOs has launched a citizens’ petition, #NotInMyTank, to convince policymakers to take action to avoid the extinction of many species, including orangutans, caused by deforestation.