A Decade of Progress on Palm Oil Deforestation at Risk in Indonesia

Indonesia, the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, has seen a decrease in deforestation for palm oil production over the past decade, but an 18% increase was observed in 2022. The hardest hit areas have been the forest-rich provinces of Kalimantan and Sumatra. This increase could be attributed to growing demand from China and for domestic use, with China becoming the largest importer of Indonesian palm oil. The majority of palm oil is sourced from supply chains with higher deforestation exposure, with China, India, and Indonesia collectively accounting for 75% of Indonesia's palm oil deforestation exposure.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, an ingredient used globally in a huge variety of food and household products from peanut butter to shampoo. Yet it is also an important driver of deforestation and contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss. Over the past 20 years, the expansion of palm oil plantations has contributed one-third of the total loss of old-growth forests in Indonesia (around 3 million hectares). Palm oil production contributes significantly to Indonesia’s climate impact due to plantations on carbon-rich peatlands. Its palm oil sector emits around 220 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses per year – almost a fifth of Indonesia’s total annual emissions in 2022. Over the past decade, Indonesia has achieved a remarkable reduction in deforestation for palm oil production. In 2018–2022, deforestation for palm oil was 32,406 hectares per year (the size of 60,664 American football fields) – only 18% of its peak a decade earlier. ...