Local leaders want Dutch effort for sustainable palm oil production
Over the past 15 years the production of palm oil has increased enormously, and not without reason: palm oil, pressed from the fruit of the oil palm, is cheap and is used in many different products. It is processed in ice cream, chocolate, margarine and sauces, but also in personal care products and cosmetics such as lipstick, detergent, toothpaste, soap and biofuel. Unfortunately, the large demand for palm oil has quite some negative side effects: large-scale deforestation, pollution, 'land grabbing' and above all human rights violations are common practice in countries where palm oil is produced.
The delegation on the 'Maasvlakte' near Rotterdam, where the palm oil enters Europe to be processed.
On Friday the 29th of April, an international delegation of four local leaders from Indonesia, Colombia and Liberia visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague to discuss the consequences of the large scale palm oil industry in their region.The meeting was part of a European tour, organised by the 'Forest Peoples Programme' (FPP). Both ENDS organised the Dutch part of the tour in collaboration with Oxfam Novib, SOMO and TNI. In The Hague, the delegation spoke with policy makers, industry, financiers and NGOs about concrete measures and actions to be taken and supported by the Netherlands to improve the situation in the producing regions.
Palm oil mark
These days, around 40 % of all palm oil entering Europe comes from Indonesia. "In Indonesia, an area of 6 million hectares, which is almost twice the Netherlands, is already converted into palm oil plantations. And this area will only increase in the coming years. The Indonesian government wants to double the current production of 40 million tons to 80 million tons by 2020", says Sanderijn van Beek of Both ENDS. This rapid expansion of oil palm plantations has a huge impact on the communities and their environment. The forest, which millions of people directly depend upon for their livelihood, turn into endless monocultures of oil palm. The rich biodiversity disappears and surface and groundwater get contaminated by pesticides and fertilisers, which completely deplete the soil. As palm oil is so profitable, its production is expanding to Latin America and Africa. In countries such as Colombia and Liberia forested area's and other land is rapidly transformed into palm oil plantations.
Natural supermarket
One of the members of the delegation is Agus Sutomo, director of the NGO LINKAR Borneo from Indonesia: "The forest is our natural supermarket; it has been providing us with food and medicines for centuries. When the large-scale palm oil plantations came, the forest disappeared and people no longer have access to food. In addition, water sources are contaminated. We now eat 'instant noodles' and we earn too little on the plantation to let our children go to school." Palm oil production also comes with a lot of violence: too often, people are under great pressure to give up their land. Willian Aljure from Colombia, another delegation member, describes how nine of his relatives, including his mother, were brutally killed. Palm oil companies are not afraid of using brutal violence against those who protest against the conversion of their forest into a plantation. This often happens even with the support of local authorities, according to the testimonies.
Role of the Netherlands
The Netherlands is the largest importer of palm oil in Europe and the country wants to promote sustainable production and supply chains. In December 2015 the Dutch government took the initiative which led to the signing of the 'Amsterdam Declaration', in which the Netherlands and four other EU Member States declare to commit to a 100% sustainable palm oil production, in order to stop deforestation, pollution and human rights violations. The delegation of local leaders asked the Netherlands to make every effort to ensure that this declaration is not just a so-called paper tiger, but will result in binding legal measures.
Legal framework rather than non-binding promises
There are several initiatives to make the palm oil chain more sustainable, such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, in which companies that are part of the palm oil supply chain, financial institutions and civil society organisations have united. Within this initiative, companies have to follow social and environmental rules, but participation remains voluntary and compliance to the rules is, in practice, difficult to enforce. All members of the delegation that came to Europe stressed that these voluntary initiatives lead to very few concrete improvements and that the rights of local communities are still not protected sufficiently. Agus Sutomo: "We need the global community to understand that when they are consuming palm oil and biofuels they are consuming the blood of our peoples in Indonesia, Liberia, Colombia and Peru." The delegation members, who feel the impact of the palm oil production in their daily lives, emphasise that governments should set strict requirements for palm oil entering the EU in order to better protect the rights of indigenous communities and the forests on which they depend.
Palm oil a biofuel?
The meeting was well attended. The intense testimonies of the members of the delegation showed how abuses and human rights violations continue in producing countries, despite certification and initiatives from the palm oil sector itself. Although well-intentioned and positive, these initiatives prove not to be sufficient to protect the rights of people and ecosystems. The visit comes at an important moment, as the Dutch government reviews the European energy policy. In order to meet European standards for renewable energy, palm oil is increasingly used as biofuel to partially replace fossil fuels. A larger demand for palm oil would only increase the problems around its production. We hope that the facts and arguments that have been brought to the table by the delegation, will be taken into account by policy-makers the discussions concerning palm oil.
More information:
About the members of the delegation (from FPP website):
- Franky Samperante is an indigenous representative from Sulawesi and is the founder-director of the indigenous peoples’ organisation Pusaka, which provides support to indigenous communities in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. In 2014, Pusaka published an atlas detailing extensive palm oil land grabs on indigenous peoples’ lands in Papua and West Papua.
- Agus Sutomo is director of the Pontianak-based NGO LinkAR-Borneo, in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The NGO works with communities whose lands have been taken over without their consent and helps them to file complaints with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
- Ali Kaba is a program coordinator and senior researcher at the Sustainable Development Institute, a Liberian NGO working with rural communities in Liberia to protect their land in the face of ongoing, rapid large-scale land transactions.
- Willian Aljure is a human rights defender from the plains region of Colombia (Los Llanos). He was forcibly displaced from his home in Mapiripán, Meta, Colombia, and has since campaigned to retrieve family lands and community territories lost to oil palm expansion. He has received death threats which prevent him from returning home.
Read more about this subject
-
News / 3 October 2024
CVM trial of Vale Executives over Brumadinho Dam Collapse brings new momentum
Fabio Schvartsman and Gerd Peter Poppinga attended a Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) trial session, last Tuesday, October 1st. Poppinga was convicted by one of the CMV directors, but the second CMV director requested more time to review the case files, postponing the judgment by 60 days. Victims’ families and supporters will have to keep waiting for justice regarding one of Brazil’s worst human and environmental disasters.
-
Blog / 30 September 2024
Of EACOP and tales of a defender in development
The Joke Waller-Hunter (JWH) Initiative creates opportunities for young people in the environmental sector in developing countries to unfold their full potential. By providing small grants to individuals to expand their knowledge, experience and training, the Initiative aims to strengthen environmental Civil Society Organisations capacity and efficiency. Grantee Brighton Aryampa wrote a column for Monitor about his journey to becoming a Human Rights Defender, and his work battling the EACOP.
-
Publication / 24 September 2024
-
News / 24 September 2024
Massive Wildfires Ravage South America
“The fires have reached proportions we have never experienced before.”
Large swathes of South America are currently draped in smoke. From Buenos Aires, to São Paulo to Asunción people struggle to breathe due to unprecedented fires raging on the continent, fuelled by extreme drought, the expansion of the agriculture frontier and rising temperatures linked to climate change.
-
Blog / 29 August 2024
Local action for resilient wetlands and riparian lands of the Athi river basin in Kenya
and Kyra Pohlan
Communities throughout the Athi river basin rely on healthy and resilient semi-aquatic ecosystems, such as riparian and wetland areas, for their well-being and livelihoods. These habitats have become ever more important for local communities in adapting to the effects of climate change, in particular the more frequent and more extreme periods of drought and flooding. By conserving and re-establishing riparian lands and wetlands, groups from the Athi River Community Network do not only protect their immediate environment but also contribute to the well-being of downstream areas.
-
News / 16 August 2024
Statement on the denial of legal protection by the Philippines Court of Appeals towards environmental defenders Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano
Both ENDS expresses its profound concern over the recent decision by the Philippines Court of Appeals to deny legal protection to Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano against unlawful harassment and reprisals from state forces. Castro and Jhed are two young environmental human rights defenders who were violently abducted by Filipino armed forces in September 2023, for almost 17 days, in a case that made international headlines. The two women had been working as community organizers in Northern Manila Bay, where large-scale land reclamation's have wreaked havoc on communities and ecosystems.
-
Letter / 22 July 2024
Joint Call to Action: International Civil Society Demands Justice for Berta Cáceres' Murder Victims in Honduras
This is a joint call to action by international civil society organizations to call upon the Honduran authorities to ensure there is justice for the victims of the murder on Berta Caceres. Eight years and four months have passed since the crime against Berta and the Honduran justice system has not confirmed the sentences of those convicted and has not prosecuted the intellectual authors. We are extremely concerned that independent administration of justice and international agreements on human rights are not being upheld.
-
News / 17 July 2024
EU Exits Energy Charter Treaty (ECT): A Milestone for Climate Action
The European Union's decision to exit the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a landmark victory for climate action. For years, the ECT's Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism has enabled fossil fuel companies to challenge climate policies, hindering progress towards sustainability.
-
News / 9 July 2024
‘Dare to Trust’: Both ENDS and the Dutch Postcode Lottery team up to show the power of trust-based partnership
For more than thirty years, Both ENDS has collaborated with partner organisations around the world to advance environmental justice. Our relationships with partners, many of which span decades, are based on shared values, respect and trust. Together, we are strengthening knowledge, networks and movements, and engaging in joint advocacy aimed at bringing about a more just and sustainable world.
-
News / 9 July 2024
Help the fight for a world without fossil fuels: sign this initiative
The climate crisis can no longer be ignored. With record temperatures and unprecedented extreme weather conditions, we see the devastating effects of climate change all around the world. The Netherlands has recently faced both unprecedented heatwaves and prolonged rainfall that have severely impacted our agricultural sector. These events painfully highlight: we must act now.
-
News / 4 July 2024
Karin van Boxtel new director of Both ENDS
Karin van Boxtel (35) is the new director of environment and human rights organisation Both ENDS. Karin has been running the organisation temporarily, together with Annelieke Douma, since the departure of the previous director, Danielle Hirsch. She has now been appointed permanently to make Both ENDS stronger and more future-proof. Karin will take up her new post on 1 September. Until then, she will continue as co-director on an interim basis.
-
News / 3 July 2024
-
Video / 3 July 2024
Jonila Castro of AKAP KA & Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment
Jonila Castro works for AKAP KA Manila Bay and/or Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE). The livelihood of the majority of the Filipino people depends on the environment, on the seas and the lands and mountains.
-
News / 3 July 2024
Illegal logging is devastating Suriname's forest: The Saamaka and their fight against deforestation
The Saamaka people of Suriname have long resisted the government's violation of their land rights. Despite a 2007 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) against such violations, the government continues to grant logging and mining concessions on Saamaka territory without free prior and informed consent (FPIC). New report shows this has led to deforestation, land dispossession, and disruption of their livelihoods. A recent example includes a 42.7 km road built through their lands for logging access.
-
External link / 2 July 2024
-
External link / 2 July 2024
-
External link / 2 July 2024
-
External link / 2 July 2024
-
Publication / 2 July 2024
-
Blog / 21 June 2024
International coorperation - especially now!
This blog is written in Dutch