The European Commission in 2019 said the cultivation of palm oil causes excessive deforestation, asking member countries to limit its use in biofuel production until 2023 and phase it out by 2030.

In 2020, Eni pledged to become 'palm-oil free' in its refineries by 2023, and in October 2022 it had announced that it had achieved the goal earlier than expected.

However, T&E's report, titled "Promise Not Kept: How Eni's Refineries Still Rely on Palm Oil Products," shows evidence of palm oil fatty acid distillate (Pfad), a byproduct of palm oil, being transported to Eni refineries last year.

"This is despite scientific studies showing that Pfad is a driver of deforestation along with crude palm oil," the report says.

According to the organization, this evidence clashes with Eni's 2020 promise to phase out crude palm oil and its derivatives.

In response, Eni said it has been a 'palm oil-free' company since the end of 2022 and that the use of Pfad is permitted under European and Italian regulations.

"Pfad is a waste by-product of the palm oil refining process," he said. "We do not agree with equating the use of this waste product with the use of palm oil itself."

Many other biofuel producers, including European market leader Neste, also classify Pfad as a waste product of the refining process.

When Eni announced the end of palm oil supply in October 2022, it said it would continue to use waste byproducts, thus changing course from its previous commitment to eliminate the use of both palm oil itself and Pfad.

T&E argues that oil companies and biofuel producers usually treat Pfads as "waste and residues" in order to exclude upstream emissions from by-product climate impact assessments.

(Francesca Landini, translated by Luca Fratangelo, editing Sabina Suzzi)