Oil crops cause 1.5% of global biodiversity loss, ETH Zurich study finds

A study on oil crops and biodiversity, published in Nature Food on 19 June 2026, finds that crops grown for their oil cause the potential long-term loss of about 1.5% of the world’s plant and terrestrial vertebrate species. The research was led by Stephan Pfister, Professor for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment at ETH Zurich, which describes it as the first study to trace these impacts along global supply chains, from field to finished product. Three crops, oil palm, soybean and coconut, account for about three-quarters of the loss.

The oils involved are everywhere, in margarine and spreads, cosmetics, medicines and animal feed, and both their cultivation and their consumption are rising. The paper sets out the supply-chain link from consumption to species loss, published in Nature Food and quantifies it across nearly all major oil crops at once.

What the oil crops and biodiversity study measured

The team assessed 19 oil crops and tracked their effect on species from 1995 to 2020. The paper, “Oil crop supply chains drive rising global biodiversity loss and outsource impacts to the tropics,” combined spatially explicit maps of where oil crops grow with a global model of trade and production, then applied species-loss factors that estimate how much a given area of farmland contributes to worldwide species decline. To build the maps, the researchers drew on satellite data, agricultural statistics and global land-use datasets.

The headline figure, about 1.5% of global species facing potential long-term loss, is a measure of committed impact: species pushed toward extinction by current and past land use, even where no new clearing takes place. “From the perspective of environmental protection, biodiversity loss is as big a problem as climate change,” said Pfister, according to the announcement from ETH Zurich.

Source: Wang et al., “Oil crop supply chains drive rising global biodiversity loss and outsource impacts to the tropics,” Nature Food (2026); ETH Zurich.

Three crops drive three-quarters of the loss

Of the 19 crops studied, oil palm, soybean and coconut caused the largest share of harm, together responsible for about three-quarters of the biodiversity loss linked to oil crops. These crops are tied to species-rich regions and, in the case of oil palm and coconut, grow only in the tropics, where new plantations often replace forest. The study also records a rising trend: the biodiversity impact of oil crops grew by about four-fifths between 1995 and 2020, attributed mainly to higher per-capita consumption rather than population growth.

How demand outsources biodiversity loss to the tropics

More than half of the biodiversity loss is outsourced through international trade, the study finds, as importing regions shift the impact onto tropical producers. The European Union, China and the United States together account for over 80% of these outsourced impacts. The EU’s share is linked mainly to imported palm oil, while China’s is tied to soybean used for animal feed. Tropical regions hold just under half of the harvested area but bear almost four-fifths of the impact.

“Per-capita consumption is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss. Yet most of this impact occurs thousands of miles away from the end consumer,” said Shuntian Wang, a doctoral student on Pfister’s team in ETH Zurich’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.

The authors say production matters as much as consumption. Even without new deforestation, long-running farmland keeps pressure on ecosystems. Pfister points to one main response: “An important lever is investing in better production and in the protection of ecosystems in countries of origin.” Soil- and habitat-friendly methods such as regenerative agriculture aim to keep land productive without clearing more of it, though the researchers caution that demand can simply move to another region if single markets act alone. ETH Zurich has also released an interactive dashboard of the results.

Background: measuring agriculture’s toll on biodiversity

Researchers have documented for years that oil palm expansion drives tropical deforestation and species loss in Southeast Asia, and that soybean expansion has reshaped South American savannas. What the new work adds to the study of oil crops and biodiversity is a consumption-and-trade accounting: it connects the species lost in producing regions to the demand that drives planting, across nearly all major oil crops at once. Biodiversity protection sits within the wider sustainability agenda set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, whose Goal 15 targets life on land.

The findings point to familiar levers: less waste and lower-impact consumption on the demand side, and on the supply side, protecting forests and raising yields so less land is cleared. Winss Solutions has examined how gentler farming can still pay, including ways sustainable agriculture can be profitable. By following oil from the finished product back to the plantation, the ETH Zurich team gives policymakers and companies a clearer map of where, and for whom, biodiversity is being lost.

Sources: Nature Food; ETH Zurich; Nature Food (DOI)

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Figen Sekin

I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.