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Environmentalists slam RI-Malaysia palm oil pledge
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An oil palm plantation in Pangkalan Banteng in the Central Kalimantan regency of West Kotawaringin is seen from the air on Nov. 7, 2022. (Antara/Makna Zaezar)
E
nvironmentalists have criticized Indonesia and Malaysia’s pledge to fight “discrimination” against palm oil, saying it puts the countries’ commitment to halting deforestation into question.
On Monday, Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s largest palm oil producers, agreed to cooperate to develop the palm oil market and to combat what they referred to as discrimination against the commodity.
Environmentalists are worried that the agreement will undermine the countries’ efforts to combat deforestation.
“[President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo] did not explicitly mention the latest European Union regulation, but we suspect that’s what he meant, as there are similar accusations from other Indonesian officials,'' Greenpeace Indonesia global forestry campaign head Kiki Taufik said in a statement on Wednesday.
The European Union is seeking to phase out its use of palm oil in fuels by 2030. Last month, it passed a law that requires companies to demonstrate that goods imported to the bloc have not contributed to deforestation, including palm oil products.
Jokowi expressed his disapproval of the policy during the EU-ASEAN Summit in Brussels last month, saying its inflexible approach would hurt Indonesia's development.
Kiki said the EU deforestation regulation should not be viewed as discriminatory but rather as an opportunity to advance the global commitment to reducing deforestation through transparency and sustainability.
