Blog

Last week Indonesia and the UK held a Joint Partnership Forum, led by Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi and UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Dominic Raab. Although the meeting didn’t generate significant… Read more

Last week, EU Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam H.E. Vincent Piket presented at the INAPalm Talkshow. Palm Oil Monitor – which has also previously presented at INAPalm – was in attendance and paid careful attention to everything that was… Read more

CDP: Palm Oil Leading on Deforestation Commitments A new report from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) highlights – once again – the lower environmental impact of palm oil, as well as the greater levels of commitment among palm oil firms… Read more

Buttergate or Trade Angst? The ‘Buttergate’ controversy has hit Canadian headlines over the past month—but what is the controversy? It’s relatively simple: several bloggers claimed – without basic evidence – that Canadian butter had somehow become harder at room temperature.… Read more

Earlier this week Greenpeace released a broad ranging report taking aim at certification schemes worldwide. The report is a major attack on certification schemes, covering palm, soy and timber. But make no mistake, this is an attack on palm oil… Read more

Yesterday, Swiss voters voted in favour of a free trade agreement between Indonesia and Switzerland. With the results, Swiss voters chose trade liberalisation – and expanding opportunities for its exporters into the largest market in Southeast Asia – over protecting… Read more

This weekend Switzerland goes to the polls to determine the country’s participation in the Indonesia European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IE-CEPA). Although the vote covers the entirety of the agreement, it is imports of palm oil… Read more

The EU’s consultation for its ‘Deforestation Regulation’ closed on December 10, and it’s already apparent that rifts are emerging between developed and developing countries in the approach that should be taken toward deforestation.A quick recap: the Deforestation Regulation is the… Read more

The EU appears to have backed down from its aggressive anti-palm stance at this year’s ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting. A statement from the virtual meeting held last week indicates that the EU has changed its tune on palm oil – in… Read more

The major story of last week was the international press coverage of labor and abuse  issues on palm plantations. As we’ve pointed out – not just over the past few weeks but over the past few years – labor-related matters… Read more