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Indonesia slams EU bill; discriminative to palm oil
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said millions of people's livelihoods depended on oil palm plantations. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
T
he Indonesian government has slammed the approval of the new EU bill on clean energy by the European Parliament on Wednesday, which, among other things, will limit the use of palm oil for transportation fuel starting from 2021.
The bill contains a plan to increase renewable energy use for at least 35 percent of overall energy use, but it also limits the use of biofuels made from food and feed crops to only 7 percent of all transportation fuels.
"We are disappointed with the decision; we view it as discriminative," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.
She added that the bill had not been implementable yet, because the European Parliament had to consult with the European Council and the European Commission.
Retno said the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Trade Ministry would soon talk to the European Council and European Commission about the issue.
Indonesia plans to show data about the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) program and facts that oil palm plantations had helped millions of people escape from poverty and had been managed sustainably.
"The ISPO is one of Indonesia's ways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That is what [the EU] does not see. We are talking about the lives of millions of people who depend on oil palm plantations for their living," she said. (bbn)
