Agrofuels and oil palm plantations

The promotion of agrofuels as a form of renewable energy is proving to be one of the European Union’s biggest policy mistakes.

EU agrofuels policies are aggravating climate change. They have become a key driver of forest and biodiversity loss, land-grabs and conflicts, and human rights abuses in producer countries such as Indonesia. Increasingly, agricultural land needed to produce food is being reallocated to grow crops for agrofuels to fuel cars rather than to feed hungry people. [more]

DTE 99-100, October 2014

An interview with Helena Trie, Communication Staff, Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS) the Oil Palm Smallholders Union.[1]

DTE 96-97, December 2013

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Agrofuels: impacts in Indonesia, time for policy change in Europe, DTE Special Edition newsletter

DTE 96-97, December2013

Despite progress in international policies and the regulatory frameworks, despite commitments from political financial and industry leaders, these businesses are responsible for rampant forest destruction for oil palm and timber plantations, stealing from indigenous peoples, encroaching on their lands and resources, and destroying their culture and identity.

DTE 96-97, December 2013

The name Wilmar looms large in the Europe-Indonesia agrofuels picture.  This Singapore-based company sells Indonesia-made biodiesel to Europe as well as selling oil palm feedstock for making biodiesel in Europe.

DTE 93-94, December 2012

In this article we highlight some of the influences at work inside Indonesia which are contributing to the ongoing transfer of land from communities to corporations. These influences include national and local government policies, laws, governance and practices, whose provisions for supporting indigenous peoples and communities’ rights and livelihoods have been deprioritised in favour of large-scale, commercial ‘development’ projects. The result is a growing disparity between rich and poor, worsening imbalance in the control over agrarian resources and more and more conflicts between communities, private sector and the state.

DTE 93-94, December 2012

Agrofuels are often promoted by the agrofuels industry, investors and government officials as a means of providing livelihoods for rural communities, but how does this square with the fact that agrofuels are part of the landgrabbing problem in countries like Indonesia?

Already the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, Indonesia is promoting yet more palm oil plantations across almost all regions in the country. Palm oil plantations covered more than 8 million hectares in 2010.

The expansion is being driven by the Indonesian government’s push for export revenues and demand for the crop from the international food and cosmetics industries.