Global demand for wood pellets and pulp is fuelling a resurgence in deforestation in Kalimantan, home to the Indigenous Dayak community and critically-endangered orangutans. The firm responsible has murky ties to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysian entities, NGOs claim.
Studio EB
Women make up a large but undervalued part of the palm oil industry. How can the "backbone" of Indonesia's palm oil trade be included in the sustainability conversation?
To better understand human-wildlife clashes, it is important to know the motivations behind certain human behaviours, says Natasha Zulaikha, who is studying the impact of elephant raids on Malaysia's farms.
The government, researchers and companies are combining forces to build a miniature tropical rainforest in Kalimantan, hoping it will serve as a blueprint for the reforestation of barren lands in the region of Indonesia’s planned new capital, Nusantara.
Malaysia is expected to launch its first local nature-based carbon credit but it faces a jurisdictional quagmire, wherein forest management is predominantly governed by state authorities.
Oleh
Renard Siew
The country’s presumed incoming leaders have said they would continue food estate projects that have caused deforestation, while Prabowo’s coal ties may make it hard for him to advance the energy transition. The public needs to speak up.
Oleh
Firdaus Cahyadi
Studio EB
Mutual benefits are assured when the financial sector collaborates with palm oil stakeholders. FIs can help smallholders secure credit, while getting access to data and insights required to make sound and profitable investment decisions.
Oleh
Joseph D'Cruz
Studio EB
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's Guntur Cahyo Prabowo argues why certified smallholders should be able to sell their produce under the European Union's new deforestation regulation, including via a RSPO smallholder credits system.
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Guntur Cahyo Prabowo
In the first in a new video series where sustainability leaders interview each other about the toughest things about their jobs, Simon Lord of Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation went head to head with Pamela Mar of Hong Kong-based textile and apparel giant Fung Group.
Studio EB
What does it mean to build a clean and fair palm oil supply chain? For drivers in Indonesia used to unsafe working conditions, this is what it could look like.
Studio EB
Transboundary haze pollution is back with a vengeance in Southeast Asia. The Eco-Business Podcast talks to RSPO CEO Joseph D'Cruz about what the palm oil sector can do to put out the peatland fires that have burned annually for four decades.
Some environmentalists would argue that there's no such thing as sustainably grown palm oil, because of the crops links to deforestation and human rights abuses. Eco-Business spoke to Monique van Wijnbergen about how palm can be done right.
Studio EB
Smallholders have taken much of the blame for this year's haze-causing forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. How can they be motivated to switch to more sustainable, fire-free production methods?