Much of the world’s palm oil comes from the island of Sumatra Adek Berry / AFP / Getty

Bad news for orangutans and other denizens of the remaining rainforests in Malaysia and Borneo: palm oil consumption in the European Union rose 7 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016. It’s the rising global demand for palm oil that is driving the clearance of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia to make way for more plantations.

EU consumption grew, even though the use of palm oil in foods and cosmetics has fallen slightly. Instead, the increase was almost entirely due to …