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The Wall Street Journal – which is for the most part a bastion of data-based reporting aimed at markets – has joined the ranks of fake reporting on pam oil. Their most recent piece, Soaring Demand for Palm Oil Puts… Read more

RSPO is pushing out its credentials on human rights and labour rights, but it’s apparent that the organisation has come to the party a little late as the global debate has ramped up. As we have argued in the past,… Read more

The most significant story that has emerged from Indonesia this month is the possible export ban on palm oil. The announcement resulted in an additional price spike across global oil vegetable markets on the weekend before prices dropped below last… Read more

Richard Walker, the UK supermarket heir who famously excluded palm oil from his retail chain in 2018, has had to walk back and reinstate palm oil in his supply chains. Just to remind: In 2018, Walker undertook a joint marketing… Read more

Did Trevelyan succeed in Jakarta? UK Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan visited Jakarta last month with one primary purpose: salvage the Indonesia-UK roadmap. Sources had indicated that the roadmap had hit some bumps; Indonesia was seeking full recognition for its sustainability… Read more

The UK and Indonesia were set to issue a new pact – known loosely as the Indonesia UK Roadmap – earlier this month. Sources indicate that the signing has effectively stalled. Given how much stock the UK had put into… Read more

Politico’s EU office appears to have fallen for the NGO line on the EU’s new deforestation regulation. In an article from late December by Leonie Kijewski, Politico EU effectively ran Greenpeace talking points on the EU regulation with zero criticism… Read more

Mongabay reported that local environmental groups have “cautiously welcomed” President Jokowi’s announcement to revoke forestry concession permits covering a total of 3 million hectares – an area the size of Belgium – in order to improve governance and environmental practices… Read more

President Jokowi has issued something of a warning to France on palm oil, just as President Macron is seeking to put the EU’s deforestation regulation at the centre of his election campaign. Last month France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian… Read more

The draft EU Deforestation Regulation was released by the European Commission in late November. Its approach is simple: ban commodities produced from deforested land. The released version has already caused significant consternation, with arguably the world’s leading trade policy journalist… Read more