Palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
production is important to the
economy of Indonesia
The economy of Indonesia is the largest in Southeast Asia and is one of the emerging market economies. As a middle-income country and member of the G20, Indonesia is classified as a newly industrialized country. It is the 17th largest economy ...
as the country is the world's biggest producer and consumer of the commodity, providing about half of the world's supply.
In 2016, Indonesia produced over of palm oil, and exported of it.
Oil palm
''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...
plantations stretch across , and is projected to reach by 2020. There are several different types of plantations, including small, privately owned plantations, and larger, state- owned plantations. There are a variety of health, environmental, and societal impacts that result from the production of palm oil in Indonesia. A recent publication by the NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) indicates that the use of palm oil by some of the biggest chocolate and snacks' producers is increasing this problem.
In addition to servicing traditional markets, Indonesia is looking to put more effort into producing
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
. China and India are the major importers of palm oil, accounting for more than a third of global palm oil imports. Looking at Indonesia's GHG emissions breakdown,
climate change mitigation
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing Greenhouse gas emissions, emissions of greenhouse gases or Carbon sink, removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caus ...
will mainly come from controlling forest fires and
peatland
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...
conservation. REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) will be ‘an important component of the NDC target from
heland-use sector’. This implies that there will need to be large economic incentives and inputs from outside resources to ensure that land-use change is prevented.
Deforestation
As late as 1900, Indonesia was still a densely forested country: forests represented 84 percent of the total land area. Deforestation intensified in the
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...
and has accelerated further since then. The estimated
forest cover
Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...
of around 1900 decreased to less than by the end of the 20th century. Of the total logging in Indonesia, up to 80% is reported to be performed
illegally.
Forests are often cleared for palm oil industries. Typically, the company that has usage rights for the land will contract individuals to burn the supposedly "degraded" forest, thereby avoiding direct responsibility for fires, which become more likely when peatland is deforested.
Forest fires often destroy high capacity
carbon sink
A carbon sink is anything, natural or otherwise, that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period and thereby removes carbon dioxide () from the atmosphere.
Globally, the two most important carbon si ...
s, including
old-growth rainforest and
peatlands
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...
. In May 2011, Indonesia declared a moratorium on new logging contracts to help combat this. This appeared to be ineffective in the short-term, as the rate of deforestation continued to increase. By 2012 Indonesia had surpassed the rate of
deforestation in Brazil
Brazil once had the highest deforestation rate in the world and in 2005 still had the largest area of forest removed annually. Since 1970, over of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. In 2001, the Amazon was approximately , which is only ...
, and become the fastest forest clearing nation in the world. However, it is unclear about the current comparative deforestation rates between Indonesia and Brazil because new political leadership in Brazil has recently increased deforestation dramatically.
Domestically, there has been some effort to crack down against illegal slash and burn practices. A Peatland Restoration Agency was also formed in 2015 under President Joko Widodo. In 2018, the government no longer granted licenses for deforestation for palm oil plantations. It is unclear as to how effective these laws are due to corruption, poor enforcement and loopholes in some of these policies.
Production
![Riau deforestation 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Riau_deforestation_2006.jpg)
Production of palm oil in Indonesia has, since 1964, recorded a phenomenal increase from to in 2018 and a total of will be needed in 2025 to sustain international and domestic demands.
Palm oil accounts for 11% of Indonesia's export earnings of $5.7bn. Maintaining its status as the world's largest producer of palm oil, Indonesia has projected a figure of by 2020. In this context, the global production figure given by the
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) was for 2012, equivalent to double of the 2002 production.
This increase is also reflected in increases of Indonesia's production of palm oil for the same period, from in 2002 and in 2012.
In April 2022, President Joko Widodo announced that the country will effectively ban palm oil exports starting April 28, until further notice. The policy is said to guarantee availability of affordable cooking oil in the domestic market. In return, this has flustered global markets and sent the commodity’s price to historic highs.
The entire oil production is derived from Indonesia's
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
which ranks third in the world, the other two being in the Amazon and Congo basins. The three main business models for palm oil production in Indonesia are private large scale plantations, nucleus estate smallholders, and independent smallholders. The breakdown of palm oil area and production by type of palm oil plantation is shown in Table 1.
Palm trees that were planted about 25 years ago have an annual average production rate of
Indonesia is considering plans to increase production this by introducing newer varieties which could double production rate per hectare (acre).
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
and
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
are the two islands that account for 96% of Indonesia's palm oil production.
As of 2011, there were of palm oil plantations, with of these being productive plantations under harvest, thus making Indonesia the global leader in crude palm oil (CPO) production. According to
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
reports, nearly 50% of CPO produced in the country is exported in an unprocessed form, while the remaining is processed into cooking oil, about half of which is exported, while the rest is consumed locally.
The crude palm oil production system is vital to the economy of Indonesia and has many domestic and foreign uses. It provides a major export source through food and for industrial use. It is also used for domestic food, biodiesel, and biofuel. It is estimated that the population of Indonesia will grow to 285 million people in 2025 which will lead to an increased domestic demand for vegetable oil. In addition, other domestic industrial uses of palm oil are to support the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical industries.
Uses
Palm oil is an essential ingredient for the food industry, used as a cooking oil or in the production of processed foods (such as many types of chocolates, biscuits, chewing gum...) and for the manufacture of cosmetic and hygiene products (soaps, lipstick, washing powder...). It is also valuable as a lubricant in industrial production or for the energy sector for the production of
biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
.
[
]
Biofuel
Over the past few years an interest in biofuel has increased as a potential clean energy source, it has become a primary use for domestic crude palm oil. As seen in table 3, domestic use of biodiesel is expected to see the most growth of 7.3% by 2025. The Indonesia government has been interested in growing biofuel plantations in order to decrease the countries reliance on fossil fuels. It is predicted that in 2025, biofuel will account for 25% of Indonesians national energy mix.
Biodiesel is created using a transesterification process that converts the triglycerides in the crude palm oil into esters to be used in biofuel production. This process has been shown to have a biodiesel yield of 93.6%.
Companies
Major local and global companies are building mills
Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to:
As a name
* Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin
* Mills (given name)
*Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine
Places Uni ...
and refineries, including PT Astra Agro Lestari Terbuka ( biodiesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
refinery), PT Bakrie Group
The Bakrie Group is an Indonesian conglomerate founded by Achmad Bakrie in 1942. It has interests across various industries including mining, oil and gas, property development, infrastructure, plantations, media and telecommunications. The gr ...
(a biodiesel factory and new plantations), Surya Dumai Group (biodiesel refinery).[Corporate power: The palm-oil-biodiesel nexus](_blank)
Grain 2007
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in ter ...
(sometimes operating through CTP Holdings of Singapore) is building new refineries and mills in Malaysia and Indonesia, expanding its Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
refinery to handle /year of palm oil, acquiring plantations in Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
, and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
Robert Kuok
Robert Kuok Hock Nien (; Hokchew: ''Guoh24 Houk5 Nieng55''; born 6 October 1923), is a Malaysian business magnate and investor. Since 1973, Kuok has lived in Hong Kong. According to ''Forbes'', his net worth is estimated at $12.6 billion as of ...
's Wilmar International Limited has plantations and 25 refineries across Indonesia, to supply feedstock to the new biodiesel refineries of Singapore, Riau, Indonesia and Rotterdam.[
]Musim Mas
Musim Mas (Musim Mas Group) operates globally across the palm oil business spectrum with an operational presence in 13 countries across Asia-Pacific, Europe, North and South America. The group owns one of the largest palm oil refinery networks i ...
Group has plantations and refineries in Malaysia and Indonesia - Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
, Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
etc. although they are headquartered in Singapore.
Marihat Research Station (MRS), nowadays known as RISPA and located in Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
, is the first research centre for Palm Oil Plantation for Indonesia. One of its well-known experts in soil, who has now retired, was Ir. Petrus Purba.
In August 2011, the governor of Aceh
Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...
issued a permit for Indonesian palm oil firm PT Kallista Alam to develop around in Tripa. Indonesian palm oil producer Triputra Agro Persada will reportedly increase its planted area by about two-thirds from 2013 by 2015.
Environmental impact
Logging effects and deforestation
Since agricultural land is limited, in order to plant monoculture
In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...
s of oil palms
''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its cou ...
, land used for other cultivations or the tropical forest need to be cleared. Of the total logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.
Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
in Indonesia, up to 80% is reported to be performed illegally. A major environmental threat is then the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia, which was estimated at of primary forest per year from 2000 to 2012.[Petrenko, C., Paltseva, J., & Searle, S. (2016). Ecological Impacts of Palm Oil Production in Indonesia. ''International Council On Clean Transportation''. Retrieved from http://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/Indonesia-palm-oil-expansion_ICCT_july2016.pdf] From 1990 to 2005, of Indonesian forest were taken down from logging, 77% of this forest had never even been touched.
Deforestation also makes Indonesia one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...
es. Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
(CO2) is released in the atmosphere massively with the cutting of tropical peat
Tropical peat is a type of histosol that is found in tropical latitudes, including South East Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Tropical peat mostly consists of dead organic matter from trees instead of spaghnum which are commonly foun ...
lands, which are carbon sink
A carbon sink is anything, natural or otherwise, that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period and thereby removes carbon dioxide () from the atmosphere.
Globally, the two most important carbon si ...
s, according to Greenpeace. Deforestation is also caused by illegal forest fires to clear land for palm oil plantations. According to WWF for example, in 1997 around of carbon were released by the fires which represented "13-40% of the mean annual global carbon emissions from fossil fuels that year". As of 2013, Indonesia ranked number eight among countries worldwide for overall greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Resources Institute, 65.5% of these greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to land use change and forestry; the palm oil industry in Indonesia is a major contributing factor towards this trend.
Industrial palm tree plantations also impacts negatively the quality of soils, water and the air because they often rely on the use of agrochemical
An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical refers to biocides ( pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides) an ...
s products, such as pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...
s or fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
s.
Carbon sinks
The drainage, burning, and plantation building on former peat lands releases large quantities of carbon dioxide, so negating their value as so-called 'carbon sinks' (stores of carbon). The carbon sinks “store more carbon per unit area than any other ecosystem in the world”. One study found that destroying the carbon sink peat bogs in Southeast Asia could release as much carbon as nine years of fossil fuel that is used globally.
A recent study by Rahman et al. (2018) found that when forest is converted to oil plam plantation, Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks declined by 42%, 24% and 18% after 29, 39 and 49 years of conversion respectively.
Air pollution
Palm Oil production is a source of air pollution in Indonesia, mainly due to the use of slash-and-burn method to clear out forests for palm oil plantations. The areas that are typically being cleared out are rainforests, which have very carbon rich forest floors are known as peatlands
A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...
. The carbon-rich soil of the peatlands make them very flammable. When peatlands are burned, they release a large amount of CO2 along with black carbon, an extremely dangerous type of particulate matter. Along with particulate matter, the smoke from the fires can release toxic gases that can spread over large areas and the fires are not easy to put out in remote areas, causing harm to both animal life and human populations. As a result of the large fires, a recurring phenomenon typically between July and October or during El Nino
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
called the Southeast Asian Haze
The Southeast Asian haze is a fire-related recurrent transboundary air pollution issue. Haze events, where air quality reaches hazardous levels due to high concentrations of airborne particulate matter from burning biomass, have caused adver ...
occurs. This is an event where air quality becomes extremely dangerous and can cause adverse health outcomes, have negative environmental, and economic impacts.
Soil and water pollution
of effluent or liquid waste is made for every metric ton () of palm oil that is produced. This effluent affects freshwater furthermore affecting downstream wildlife and humans. Pesticides and fertilizers can further cause issues for downstream water pollution.
Land erosion
A majority of Indonesia's palm oil plantations are on steep slopes, causing “increased flooding and silt deposits in rivers and ports”. Repair of infrastructures such as roads and housing are effects of land erosion to local communities.
Animals
Many animals native to Southeast Asia and Indonesia are impacted by the effects of the palm oil industry and deforestation often facing threats of extinction. Deforestation entails a reduction in biodiversity and an alteration of ecosystems which causes the destruction of the habitats of endangered species such as Borneo pygmy elephants, Sumatran elephant
The Sumatran elephant (''Elephas maximus sumatranus'') is one of four recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In 2011, IUCN upgraded the conservation status of the Sumatran elephant from endang ...
s, Sumatran tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct.
Sequences from complete mitochon ...
s, Sumatran rhinoceros
The Sumatran rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis''), also known as the Sumatran rhino, hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros. It is the o ...
es, Malayan sun bear and the various species of orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
that can be found only on the forests of Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
and Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. Some of these animals such as the orangutan are arboreal and try to stay in the trees, often being burned alive during slash and burn of forests. Other animals like the orangutans are introduced to new threats as palm oil fields increase in size. Palm oil plantations in Sumatra and Borneo are one of the main areas where reticulated and blood pythons are sourced for the exotic leather industry
Remedial measures
A government moratorium on the clearing of new forest was effective from 2011 to 2015.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Board has planned to adopt new planting materials on the older plantations which could double yields compared to the present annual rate of . In addition, the government will encourage development of degraded lands found suitable to grow palm trees. This area is reported to be in the four provinces of Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
, on the Indonesian part of the Borneo island.
In 2018, the Indonesian president signed a moratorium on new palm oil development that will last three years. In this moratorium, opening of new palm oil plantations will be delayed to reduce conflicts, as well as requiring all central and provincial governments to re-evaluate current permits.
Impacts on local communities
The expansion of the palm oil industry is driven by its profitability, and it has the potential to develop new jobs and improve the standards of living of people and small-holders when conducted sustainably. According to the UNDP, there are about 16 million jobs that depend on the palm oil sector.["Sustainable Palm Oil for All"](_blank)
''UNDP in Indonesia''. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
On the other side, deforestation (for example in Borneo) for oil palm plantation development also endangers indigenous tribes and local communities as it entails the destruction of living spaces or land appropriation. For example, in regions like Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
, the local livelihoods of Dayak communities and their traditions of shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...
, are undermined by the development of palm oil production and monocultures. This often results in human rights violations and confrontation between large-scale producers and local communities whose land is appropriated. Colchester, for example, found that in 2010, there had been more than 630 land disputes linked to oil palm production in Indonesia.
The industry of palm oil also causes pollution of air and water which increase health risks to the populations of Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. The use of slash-and-burn techniques to clear land for oil palm cultivation has led to widespread regional haze episodes impacting countries throughout Southeast Asia. These haze episodes have been linked to excess premature deaths, respiratory illness and cardiac disease. Infants and children are particularly vulnerable to negative health impacts from these exposures. The 2015 Southeast Asian Haze episode is estimated to have caused approximately 103,300 excess deaths in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore according to mortality models.
Social implications
The palm oil industry in Indonesia has been shown to have contribute to state revenue, provide employment for people in rural areas, and increase farmers income. However, these benefits only seem to be seen with more experienced plantations and farmers, so the industry tends to favor migrant smallholders rather than the indigenous people. The indigenous people tend to see more negative social impacts such as food insecurity, human rights abuse, land disputes, and disregard for the local environment.
The Indonesian scientist Prof. Dr. Bambang Hero Saharjo
Dr. Bambang Hero Saharjo is an Indonesian fire forensics specialist and Professor of the Environment and Forest Fires at Bogor Agricultural University. In 2019, he won the Sense About Science John Maddox award for his work to prevent companies, ...
is a leading authority on peatland fires and has produced evidence for over 500 criminal trials against firms that accused of using illegal methods to clear peatland for crops such as palm oil. For his work in continuing to produce evidence in the face of threats and intimidation he received the 2019 John Maddox prize from the charity Sense about Science.
Human rights
The palm oil industry is growing in industry need and output, and palm oil and palm-based ingredients are found in more than 50 percent of common consumer products, from shampoo and lipstick to packaged bread and ice cream. Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil across the world and is rapidly expanding its plantations and workforce to face a growing global demand. In attempting to meet this demand, systemic human rights violations are consistently traced to Indonesian palm oil producers, including forced labor and child labor, gender discrimination, and worker exploitation.
Child labor
While Indonesian law prohibits child labour in work that is “harmful to the health, safety, or morals of children”, children between the ages of 13 and 15 are permitted to do what is called “light work”, or work that does not pose a risk to a child's mental, physical, or social development. While children are rarely employed by palm oil plantations, they are often working there, helping their fathers and mothers meet their targets in order to receive full wages. Children often work in the fields and face the risk of injury from chemical exposure, carrying heavy loads, and dangerous farming practices.
Worker exploitation and forced labor
While Indonesia has legal requirements regarding hours worked per week and overtime, minimum wages are set by province, and in North Sumatra and Central Kalimantan, the provinces were plantations are located, these minimum wages are insufficient to meet a family's needs. Plantation workers are paid using a two-pronged system based on time worked and worker output. Workers are given “output targets” and if these targets are met, workers receive their full pay If they are not met, the worker may lose a portion of his salary or annual bonus, regardless of the amount of time worked. These targets are set by individual company and are not regulated. It has also been found that harvesters regularly work longer than the legal limit, often working 10–12 hours a day. The legal limit in Indonesia is 40 hours per week.
Dangerous working conditions
Pesticide and herbicide use is a common practice among palm oil plantations, including paraquat, an herbicide banned throughout Europe. Personal protective equipment is not always provided to workers. Some companies in Indonesia do not provide any equipment, while others do not replace the equipment after excessive use. Workers are found to have no knowledge or information regarding the health risks posed by the chemicals they use.
Environmental health impacts and health rights violations
In Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, there are a lot of fires from palm oil production and it has seen particulate pollution double over the past two decades with the rise of the palm oil industry. Particulate pollution has had an impact on life expectancy in the area with 0.7 predicted years life lost due to pollution two decades ago to a predicted 2.4 years of life lost now. Chemicals posing major health risks like Nitrogen Oxides Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds:
Charge-neutral
*Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide
*Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide
*Nitrogen trioxide (), or ni ...
(NOX) and Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
s (CO) are also released during peatland fires. A study done in 2015 showed that in Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Tengah) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya and in 2010 its population was over 2.2 million, while the 2 ...
the particulate pollution and toxic gases released by peatland fires was so severe that 33% of deaths due to cardiovascular disease that year were attributed to the poor air quality. Studies have also suggested that Indonesian palm oil workers are at an increased risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders and infectious diseases like malaria and worm infections due to extensive outdoor labor, stress and mental disorders, and pesticide and herbicide exposure. A company called Wilmar in Indonesia tests employees’ blood for chemical exposure to check for abnormalities. While workers will be told if they have “abnormal” blood, they however do not receive a copy of the results or any further explanation. Wilmar addressed the situation by moving employees that had blood abnormalities to different tasks, but never gave an explanation as to why this had been done. This has been found to cause heightened anxiety among plantation workers about their health.
Gender discrimination
Women are particularly vulnerable to abuses. In Indonesia, women are often hired under casual arrangements, exempting them from permanent employment, health insurance, pensions, and other social security benefits. One of women's main roles on plantations is herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer application, placing these women at a higher risk for chemical toxicity and other harms. Women are often unpaid for some of their work, including collecting fruit from the ground during harvests, for they are often also helping their husbands meet their targets to ensure the family receives the husband's full salary.
Sustainable palm oil
In response to critiques on the industry by environmental and human rights group, efforts are made towards more sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
of the industry. According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multistakeholder governance model, multistakeholder governance ...
(RSPO), that applies to palm oils which are produced to increase the food supply while keeping in mind the goals to "safeguard social interests, communities and workers" or to "protect the environment and wildlife" for example."Sustainable palm oil"
''www.rspo.org''. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
In 2011, Indonesia's Sustainable Palm Oil System (ISPO) was introduced. It is a mandatory certification scheme to ensure the quality and the respect of norms regarding the environment, workers and respect of local populations that should apply to all producers.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through global standards and multistakeholder governance model, multistakeholder governance ...
(RSPO) is also active in the region in providing certifications of sustainability for the produces who match the standards.
See also
* Biodiesel by region#Indonesia
* Deforestation in Indonesia
Deforestation in Indonesia involves the long-term loss of forests and foliage across much of the country; it has had massive environmental and social impacts. Indonesia is home to some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world and ra ...
* Environmental issues in Indonesia
Environmental issues in Indonesia are associated with the country's high population density and rapid industrialisation, and they are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels, and an under-resourced governance.
Most large palm oi ...
*Palm oil production in Malaysia
Palm oil production is vital for the economy of Malaysia, which is the world's second- largest producer of the commodity after Indonesia. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is a government agency responsible for the promotion and development ...
* List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor The ''List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor'' is an annual publication issued by the United States Government’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. It has been published within the December 2014 D ...
References
External links
{{Palm oil