Indonesia, as the world’s largest palm oil producer with plantations spanning 16.8 million hectares, faces a dilemma between industrial expansion and environmental sustainability. Although palm oil exports contributed USD 37.76 billion in 2022 and USD 29.54 billion in 2023, the biodiesel development plan from B40 to B50 initiated by President Prabowo Subianto’s administration requires further palm oil land expansion, raising concerns about deforestation and the loss of food-producing land. The Palm Oil Moratorium under Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2019 seeks to limit expansion but still faces implementation challenges.

The Palm Oil Moratorium Coalition advocates evaluating palm oil expansion permits through economic and environmental approaches using an analysis of Environmental Carrying Capacity and Environmental Capacity (D3TLH). A public discussion of the policy paper titled “The Urgency of Improving Palm Oil Governance through a Policy to Halt Permit Issuance from the Perspective of the Economy and Environmental Carrying Capacity and Environmental Capacity (D3TLH)” aims to generate constructive ideas that support sustainable palm oil governance under the Prabowo-Gibran administration.

From an economic perspective, Nailul Huda of CELIOS emphasized that, “The impact of implementing the palm oil moratorium and replanting can generate economic contributions by 2045 and absorb 761,000 workers. This figure is highly significant compared with the outcomes without a moratorium, which tend to be negative across all aspects.” Achmad Surambo, Executive Director of Sawit Watch, added that halting the issuance of palm oil permits is urgent, especially because future policies support the development of palm-based biodiesel, which could lead to further land expansion.

Indonesia, as the world’s largest palm oil producer with plantations spanning 16.8 million hectares, faces a dilemma between industrial expansion and environmental sustainability. Despite palm oil exports contributing USD 37.76 billion in 2022 and USD 29.54 billion in 2023, the government’s biodiesel development plan from B40 to B50 under President Prabowo Subianto requires further land expansion, raising concerns over deforestation and the loss of food-producing land. The Palm Oil Moratorium under Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2019 aims to limit expansion but still faces significant implementation challenges.

The Palm Oil Moratorium Coalition advocates evaluating palm oil expansion permits through both economic and environmental lenses using the Environmental Carrying Capacity Analysis (D3TLH). A public discussion on the policy paper titled “ The Urgency of Improving Palm Oil Governance through a Policy to Halt Permit Issuance in the Perspective of Economic and Environmental Carrying Capacity (D3TLH)” seeks to generate constructive ideas supporting sustainable palm oil governance under the Prabowo-Gibran administration.

From an economic perspective, Nailul Huda, an economist at CELIOS, emphasized that “The impact of implementing the palm oil moratorium plus replanting can generate economic contributions by 2045 and absorb 761,000 workers. This is highly significant compared to the negative outcomes without a moratorium.” Achmad Surambo, Executive Director of Sawit Watch, added that halting new palm oil permits is urgent, especially as future policies supporting palm-based biodiesel risk further land expansion.

Palm_Oil_Moratorium_EN Download

CELIOS_Moratorium_Sawit Download