More than a tree

In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially recognized November 26 as World Olive Tree Day, following a proposal by Lebanon and Tunisia.

More than a tribute to the olive tree, the declaration of World Olive Tree Day demonstrates the crucial role that olive farming plays in sustainable economic and social development, environmental preservation and promotion of peace, harmony and wisdom. The olive tree remains an indispensable part of human heritage, even as it faces grave threats.

Stemming from the Mediterranean, and growing across five continents, the value of the olive tree goes beyond the culinary, medicinal and nutritional properties of olives and olive oil. It also has cultural, socio-economic, agricultural and environmental significance for communities around the globe.

Over the past 60 years, global olive oil production has tripled, reaching more than 2.75 million tonnes in the 2022/23 harvest season. Projections for the 2024/25 season suggest an increase to 3.38 million tonnes.

While archaeologists and historians may disagree where exactly olive oil was produced first in the eastern Mediterranean, it is certain that Phoenicians from what is today Lebanon played a crucial role in spreading the olive tree. Merchants from Tyre, a port in southern Lebanon and one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, introduced the olive tree to Carthage, Andalusia and Tuscany.

Lebanon has had a pivotal role in the history and evolution of olive oil production, and today it remains a major exporter. Olive cultivation spreads across more than 56,000 hectares, and Lebanon's diverse topography, microclimates and fertile soil influence the unique flavors and aromas of its olive oil. Despite the country's small size, Lebanon has secured a place on the global olive oil map as a top producer of premium extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Lebanon is ranked 15th internationally in terms of olive oil production, contributing approximately 1 percent to the total global output.

Lebanese olive oil is exported to more than 70 countries. The olive oil industry is among the very few agricultural sectors in the country where exports and revenues exceed imports.

Whereas the cultural and agricultural value of the olive tree is widely recognized, a lesser-known fact about olive trees is that they are part of our planet's toolkit to mitigate climate change. Olive trees have a positive carbon balance, absorbing more CO₂ than is emitted during the process of olive oil production. Olive trees naturally absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere, storing it first in their biomass and eventually locking it into the soil permanently, explains Juan Antonio Polo Palomino, Head of the Olive Oil Technology and Environment Department at the International Olive Council (IOC).

Olive groves thus act as effective carbon sinks. According to IOC figures, the approximately 11 million hectares of olive groves worldwide have the potential to absorb up to 47 million tonnes of CO₂ each year. An IOC study found that producing just one liter of olive oil can help remove 10.65 kilograms of CO₂ from the atmosphere, when taking into consideration the entire life cycle of olive oil. Recognizing this potential, the IOC initiated a pilot project in 2025 to create a methodology tailored to the olive sector for measuring the net carbon balance of olive groves, with the goal of facilitating their entry into voluntary carbon markets.

Since ancient times, and starting with the Greeks, the olive tree has been a universal symbol for peace, a catalyst of economic and social development and a cornerstone of environmental sustainability. Yet olive trees in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Levant and the Mediterranean are under grave threat. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has designated the Mediterranean Basin as a climate change "hotspot". The region is expected to face mounting environmental challenges in the coming decades, which could undermine olive-growing areas, reducing productivity and altering the quality of fruit and oil. In a letter published in January 2023, researchers project that rising temperatures in Lebanon during the latter half of the 21st century will negatively affect olive tree development and olive oil production, particularly in the southern regions.

Adding oil to the fire - or adding fire to the oil in this instance - are the flames of war that have consumed so many of these priceless, and in some cases ancient, olive trees. Bombing during the most recent war on Lebanon, including white phosphorus bombs, destroyed tens of thousands of olive trees during the critical harvesting season, devastating the livelihoods of over 110,000 farmers, and dealing a critical blow to the country's economic and cultural fabric. To many, olive trees and olive oil carry an immense emotional value, one of history, identity and rootedness.

The destruction goes far beyond the olive groves. The United Nations has documented extensive harm to agriculture in southern Lebanon with issues such as soil degradation, chemical pollution and unexploded ordnance. The release of phosphoric acid during detonation causes soil acidification, hinders plant growth and potentially contaminates water sources.

Many olive groves were set on fire, leaving little to no olive oil for many seasons to come destroying farmers' livelihoods. George Mitri, Director of the Land and Natural Resources program at Lebanon's University of Balamand, describes the impact on local communities. "You can rebuild a house," he said, "but as a farmer, when you lose your yields over many seasons, you lose everything."

More than just an agricultural resource, the olive tree embodies an indispensable connection between sustainability, cultural identity and peace. In the words of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: "The olive tree is the color of peace, if peace needed a color."