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Herein, we show that textural properties of carbon supports have limited influence on the activity and stability of carbon supported Pd, Pt and Ru catalysts upon decarboxylation of a model triglyceride (tristearin) in the presence of subcritical water (256–326 °C). In contrast, surface acid-base properties of carbon supports were found to have a marked impact on the performance and stability of these catalysts. More precisely, for Pt group (Pt and Pd) a positive correlation could be observed between the concentration of surface basic sites and catalyst deoxygenation activity and durability while acid sites had the opposite effect. On the other hand, the activity of Ru-based catalysts were not analogously affected by the acid-base properties of carbon supports, even so a positive correlation was found between surface basicity and durability (reusability). Further, the activity of metals in decreasing order of TOF was Ru>Pt>Pd, irrespective of carbon support.