Every time you buy a jar of Nutella, a Hershey's chocolate bar or a bottle of Pepsi, your contributing to the killing of orangutangs and Co2 being emitted. Palm oil is an extremely versatile product and is very common in the US, especially in processed foods. During  the manufacturing, countries such as, Indonesia or Malaysia's rainforests are being chopped down in order to create room for palm or plantations. This is a problem since trees are a carbon sink so they help absorb the Earth's CO2. When there cut down, all the Co2 which was once stored is now emitted. According to Gregory P. Asner at the Carnegie Institution for Science, "Tropical deforestation contributes to about 20 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions." Not only is this issue contributing to climate change, animals specifically orangutangs are dying in the process from loss of habitat. According to Orangutang Foundation International, 1,000 to 5,000 orangutangs die each year in Palm Oil concessions. This is significant as there's only 55,000 to 65,000 orangutangs in the wild. Palm oil is a major issue which isn't talked frequently enough. One way to help is by boycotting brands such as, Pepsi, Nutella and Hershey's for using palm oil. By doing so we can lessen the demand needing less palm oil being manufactured. How can we further lessen this issue?

While Palm Oil's effect on the environment is notable, a big part of the reason why palm oil plantations can negatively contribute to greenhouse gas emissions is because of how land deforestation in countries with tropical climates such as Malaysia and Indonesia. In the years 2001 to 2015, nearly 10.5 million hectares of land have been taken over for the purposes of harvesting palm oil, with many of these areas contained as forests which serve as ecosystems for Sumatran tigers, orangutans, and elephants. As deforestation in these ecosystems continue, forest fires and pollution can pose a risk to residents and nearby organisms. While its easy to criticize the use of palm oil in many products, the reason why palm oil is so widely used--finding itself used in Nutella and Hersheys chocolate bars as you mentioned-- is because palm plants yield about 6 to 10 times more oil than other oilseeds, and is therefore more plentiful and cheaper. In comparison to sunflower oil, which only yields 0.74 metric tones of oil per a hectare of land, palm oil yields an astounding 2.94 metric tones of oil per a hectare of land. If we are to consider banning or turning away to other vegetable oil alternatives, we would need more land to produce the same amount of oil and we would end up creating more deforestation and have a greater greenhouse gas emission at the same time. In addition to this greater yield, Palm oil supports millions of smaller farmers in under resourced countries and palm trees themselves have a longer lifespan, allowing farmers to have a steady source of income year-round. While palm oil might cause deforestation in small parts of countries such as Indonesia, its important to note that palm oil production supports about 2.6 million residents in Indonesia, many of whom struggle with poverty. Instead of boycotting palm oil altogether, citizens in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia and worldwide should encourage in sustainable practices when harvesting palm oil, such as following the NDPE policy (No deforestation, no peat, no exploitation) and certification systems such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).