A new study co-authored by Prof. Dr. Livia Cabernard from the Chair of Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agricultural Systems at the Technical University of Munich has been published in Nature Food. The research reveals how global demand for vegetable oils is increasingly linked to biodiversity loss in some of the world's most ecologically valuable regions.

The study, "Oil crop supply chains drive rising global biodiversity loss and outsource impacts to the tropics", traces biodiversity impacts along international supply chains for major oil crops, including oil palm, soybeans, coconuts, rapeseed, and sunflower. By combining spatial biodiversity assessments with detailed global trade and supply-chain modelling, the researchers identify where biodiversity losses occur and which regions ultimately drive these impacts through consumption.

The results show that oil crop cultivation was associated with the potential long-term loss of approximately 1.5% of global plant and terrestrial vertebrate species by 2020. Oil palm, coconuts, and soybeans accounted for around three-quarters of these impacts. While tropical regions represent less than half of the harvested area used for oil crops, they experience nearly 80% of the associated biodiversity loss. More than half of these impacts are linked to international trade, meaning that biodiversity pressures are often outsourced from consuming countries to tropical producer regions.

The study further finds that biodiversity impacts from oil crop production increased by roughly 80% between 1995 and 2020, with rising per-capita consumption identified as the main driver of this trend. The findings highlight the importance of considering biodiversity impacts throughout global supply chains and underscore the need for sustainability strategies that address both production and consumption.

At the Chair of Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agricultural Systems, this research contributes to ongoing efforts to better understand the environmental consequences of global trade and consumption patterns. By improving the transparency of supply chains and identifying biodiversity hotspots, the work supports the development of more sustainable food and agricultural systems.

Read the whole paper here: 

Wang, S., Cabernard, L., Bruckner, M., Ajie, M.P., & Pfister, S. (2026). Oil crop supply chains drive rising global biodiversity loss and outsource impacts to the tropics. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01375-4.

Explore the interactive dashboard: https://wangshuntian.github.io/oil_crop_BIA/