“Unfortunately, the government only focuses on setting the target with no clear road map,” said Traction Asia research manager Ricky Amukti. That’s why RAN follows the supply chain to influence the big brands you see on grocery store shelves. “The biodiesel program is clearly not a solution for the country’s fiscal state and will worsen the implementation of Indonesia’s climate commitment because it is oriented toward deforestation and new land clearing in forest areas. It is impossible to know if some ingredients are palm oil-derived, other ingredients and products do not disclose their ingredients, and restaurants may cook with palm oil. Palm oil is the most widely traded vegetable oil globally, with demand projected to increase substantially in the future. Dryness? Palm trees grow best in humid, tropical climates, and the trees grown and cut down for palm oil primarily grow in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. “If all the focus is on biodiesel, then that’s a pity. This results in deforestation, destroying habitats of wild animals native to rainforests — namely, orangutans (as well as other primates, rhinos, elephants and tigers, according to the BBC). At this rate, Ricky said, it would be more feasible for the government to abandon the replanting program and start establishing new plantations with the higher-yield trees — a move that would threaten the country’s remaining carbon-rich rainforests. If the government were to maintain the program at B30 through 2025, or even lower the blend to B20, the need for new oil palm plantations wouldn’t be as great — 338,880 to 5.25 million hectares (837,400 to 13 million acres) — but would still entail a significant amount of deforestation. If it’s too high, such as B40 or even B100, then it’s going to be difficult to fix [the industry].”. Mongabay Series: Indonesian Forests, Indonesian Palm Oil. A key reason the replanting program has fallen short is because its funding, raised through mandatory export tariffs slapped on palm oil companies, has largely gone toward subsidizing biodiesel production and sales, to make the fuel more competitive with conventional diesel. Eco-Anxiety Is Inspiring People to Make Changes in Their Lives, What Is the Paris Agreement? In 2019, Nestlé recorded over 1,000 cases of deforestation daily. The deforestation was first detected in March 2020 by U.S.-based campaign organization Mighty Earth, which found 221 hectares (546 acres) of forest cleared in the concession of PT Medcopapua Hijau Selaras (MPHS), a subsidiary of the Jakarta-based Capitol Group. He also noted that sustainability standards are routinely flouted within the palm oil industry in Indonesia due to a lack of transparency and traceability. In Indonesia, rising demand for palm oil and timber has led to the clearing of tropical forest land in Indonesian national parks.According to a 2007 report published by UNEP, at the rate of deforestation at that time, an estimated 98 percent of Indonesian forest would be destroyed by 2022 due to legal and illegal logging, forest fires and the development of palm oil plantations. Palm oil is technically vegan, since it is completely plant-based and does not come from the body of animals. He said it would ultimately be better for the government to scale back its ambitious biodiesel target to give itself time to improve productivity and sustainability in the industry. Deforestation for palm oil has led countries to restrict imports of the edible oil, while labour concerns has seen the U.S. block some Malaysian palm oil products. The export tariffs are collected by the state palm oil fund, known by its Indonesian acronym BPDP-KS. For decades, palm oil production has been a driver of deforestation in tropical rainforests in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2017, the government was only able to replant 14,790 hectares (36,550 acres) of old plantations, or 71% of its target. Since its establishment in 2015 until 2019, the fund collected 47.2 trillion rupiah ($3.3 billion) in revenue, and gave 71% of it back to biodiesel producers — and less than 5% to small farmers for the replanting program. Cleaning palm oil deforestation to food rolling out the program at 9.3 million hectares ( 23 million ). Can do that at the pump hourly in Southeast Asia for palm oil '' on the planet according. The author of this post the RSPO, I take the organization only certifies products that use palm oil and... — as mentioned above, developers often torch and bulldoze areas of rainforests... The CDP findings and said firms had adhered to domestic industry standards, but we don’t with. 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