cooking the climate 1

8/2/2019 Cooking the Climate 1

1/25..

COOKINGTHE

CLIMATE

HOW THE PALM OIL INDUSTRY IS


2/25

Climatechangeismarketailureonthegreatestscaletheworldhasseen.Itresultsromtheactthatthecostsogreenhousegasemissionsarenotpaidorbythosewhocreatetheemissions.

2007 Kng Revew or te UK Governent Tresur


3/25

executive summary

tick tick tick orests as ticking climate bombs

peat: a volatile materialriau: a lit useDuta palma: the oil palm inDustrys recipe or climate Disasterwho controls the traDe? unilever rspo presiDent

unilevers suppliers cargill, aDm-kuok-wilmar, golDen hope anD sinar mas

what the commoDity traDers are aDDing to the mix

major names in the ooD inDustry are using tainteD palm oil

procter & gamble uses nearly 1% o global palm oil proDuction

nestl traDing with cargill

krat anD a loaD o other worlD leaDers in theooD inDustry have their ingers in the palm oil pie

bioueling rainorest Destruction climate change a branD new marketing opportunity or palm oil

laying the ounDations or orest Destruction

toDays empire builDing, tomorrows Downallemissions explosion Duta palmas smoking gun

Deuse or Detonate?time or action stop the problem: zero Deorestation

start the solution: climate protection

start the solution: cut ongoing emissions

ENDNOTES

REfERENcESacRONymS, TEchNical TERmS, ETc

cREDiTS

contents

1

8

8

16

22

38

38

38

38

40

46

46

46

47

50

52

53

5556

58

59

61

64

7379

81


4/25

u d dd 1997 d 2.57g , 40% d d.

1997:haze over inDonesia


5/25

1

Every year, 1.8 billion tonnes (Gt) o climate changing greenhouse

gas (GHG)emissions are released by the degradation and

burning o Indonesias peatlands 4% o global GHG emissionsrom less than 0.1% o the land on earth.

This report shows how, through growing demand or palm oil, the

worlds largest ood, cosmetic and biouel industries are driving

the wholesale destruction o peatlands and rainorests. These

companies include Unilever, Nestl and Procter & Gamble, who

between them account or a signicant volume o global palm oil

use, mainly rom Indonesia and Malaysia.

Overlaying satellite imagery o orest res with maps indicating the

locations o the densest carbon stores in Indonesia, Greenpeace

researchers have been able to pinpoint carbon hotspots. Our

research has taken us to the Indonesian province o Riau on theisland o Sumatra, to document the current activities o those

involved in the expansion o palm oil. These are the producers who

trade with Unilever, Nestl and Procter & Gamble, as well as many

o the other top names in the ood, cosmetic and biouel industries.

The area o peatland in Riau is tiny: just 4 million hectares,

about the size o Taiwan or Switzer land. Yet Riaus peatlands

store 14.6Gt o carbon i these peatlands were destroyed, the

resulting GHG emissions would be equivalent to one years total

global emissions.

Unless eorts are made to halt orest and peatland destruction,

emissions rom these peatlands may trigger a climate bomb.

orests as tickingclimate bombsForest ecosystems currently store about one and a hal times

as much carbon as is present in the atmosphere. Without

drastic cuts in GHG emissions, climate change which is in

part driven by orest destruction may soon tip these carbon

stores into sources o emissions. Resulting temperature

increase could disrupt ecosystems in ways that provoke yet

more greenhouse emissions, potentially leading to urther

acceleration o climate change.

Conclusions rom the worlds leading climate scientists in

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

show that large cuts in GHG emissions are needed rapidly.

Time is desperately short. The greater the delay in realising

emissions reductions, the higher the nancial, social andecological costs will be.

inDonesias rainorestsanD peatlanDs in thepolitical spotlight

Indonesia oers a critical example o why GHG emissions arising

rom deorestation and land-use change need to be dealt with at

the international level, by governments and corporations.

Indonesia holds the global record or GHG emissions through

deorestation, putting it third behind the USA and China in

terms o total man-made GHG emissions. During the last 50years, over 74 million hectares o Indonesias orestshave

been destroyed logged, burned, degraded, pulped and its

products shipped round the planet.

Unlike industrialised countr y (Annex I) signatories to the Kyoto

climate treaty, Indonesia as a developing country is not required

to set a target to reduce its GHG emissions. Consequently,

since the Kyoto Protocol provides no incentives or preventing

the destruction o tropical orests, the expansion o palm oil into

carbon-rich landscapes such as peatlands and rainorests makes

short-term economic sense but no ecological sense.

In December 2007, negotiating teams rom governmentsaround the world will gather in Bali, Indonesia to thrash out an

agreement that will ideally lead to an international plan to deliver

deep cuts in global GHG emissions, as an extension o the

current Kyoto climate treaty.

These climate negotiations are rst steps toward international

political measures to tackle deorestation. Meanwhile, global

industry continues business-as-usual, and is expanding into

the worlds rainorests.

palm oils boom!

NASAs climate scientists warn that continued rapid

growth o CO2emissions and inrastructure or another

decade may make halting high-risk increase in global

temperatures impractical i not impossible.

executive summaryinDonesias peatlanD

carbon stocks plummetas palm oil DemanD soars


6/25

2

A report published by the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP), in 2007, acknowledges that palm

oil plantations are now the leading cause o rainorest

destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Indonesia has destroyed over 28 million hectares o

orest since 1990, largely in the name o land conversion

or plantations. Yet the area o oil palm or pulp wood

plantations established in this period was only 9

million hectares. This clearly implies that most o the

companies obtained permits to convert the orest only

to gain access to the timber. Rainorest continues to be

destroyed or plantations because o the nancial value

o the timber.

Oil palm plantations eed a growing global demand or

cheap vegetable oil used in the production o ood,

cosmetics and uel. Compared to the year 2000, demandor palm oil is predicted to more than double by 2030 and

to triple by 2050.

A handul o powerul players control much o the

international trade in palm oil rom Indonesia, among

them Cargill, the worlds biggest private company, the

ADM-Kuok-Wilmar alliance, currently the worlds biggest

biouels manuacturer and Synergy Drive, the Malaysian

government controlled company that is soon to become

the worlds biggest palm oil conglomerate.

Following business-as-usual logic, industrys current

expansion strategy including taking advantage oconcern about climate change to push palm oil as a

source o biodiesel casts an ominous shadow over our

ability to cut emissions.

Much o the cur rent and predicted expansion oil palm

plantations is taking place on peatlands which are

among the worlds most concentrated carbon stores.

Ten million o the 22.5 million hectares o peatland in

Indonesia have already been cleared o orest and have

been drained, resulting in a substantial and continuing

increase in GHG emissions as peat soils dry out, oxidise

and even burn.

GHG emissions rom peatlands are set to rise by at least

50% by 2030 i predicted expansion proceeds.

riau: a lit use

In early 2007, through satellite monitoring, Greenpeace

identied re hotspots in Riau Province.

Comparing and overlaying maps o peatlands and orest

concessions signalled there was signicant overlap between

the location o res, oil palm concessions and peatlands.

The peat soils o this once heavily orested province

o 9 million hectares have the highest concentration ocarbon stored per hectare o anywhere in the world.

The area o peatland involved is small: just 4 million

hectares about the size o Taiwan or Switzerland.

But they store 14.6Gt o carbon, or 40% o Indonesias

peatland carbon.

Riaus huge carbon store is at high risk rom drainage,

clearance and ultimately rom re. Destroying these

peatlands could release GHG emissions equivalent

to one years total global emissions or to ve years

emissions rom all ossil-uel power plants in the world.

A quarter o Indonesias oil palm plantations are locatedin Riau. By 2005, 1.4 million hectares o oil palm

plantation had been established in the province.Data

suggest that over one-third o oil palm concessions in

Riau are sited on peat.

Riau is acing urther expansion in palm oil due to its

available inrastructure. A urther 3 million hectares o

peatland orests are earmarked or conversion over the

next decade.Where once there was mostly orest, soon

hal o Riau will be covered in oil palms.

According to a 2001 report by the European Union and

the Indonesian Ministry o Forestry, It is inevitable that

most new oil palm will be in the wetlands, as the more

desirable dry lands o [Sumatra] are now occupied.

Ouractionsnowcasttheirshadow

arintotheuture.[Climatepolicyneedsto]havetheeconomics

oriskatitscore;andgobeyondthemarginalchangeswhicharetheusualdailyareoeconomists.

n s, c e wd b


7/25

3

Duta palma: the oilpalm inDustrys recipeor climate Disaster

The privately-held Duta Palma group is a company with

major operations in Riau. It is one o Indonesias ten-

largest palm oil reners.

Duta Palma now controls about 200,000 hectares

o land, over hal o it in Riau. This landbank overlapssignicant areas o deep peat, which are theoretically

protected under Indonesian law.

Greenpeace analysed satellite data rom the period

2001-2007. This showed signicant orest clearance

within several o Duta Palmas contiguous concessions

in Riau. According to ocial maps, nearly hal o the total

area o the concessions is on peatlands with a depth

greater than 2 metres. One area is ocially designated

as protected peatlands, ie more than 3 metres deep.

Measurements made by Greenpeace o the peat

depth in October 2007 show that the concessions lieon very deep strata o peat ranging rom 3.5 metres

in depth outside the boundary o the concession to

more than 8 metres in the middle o the concession

area. Thereore, the entire area should be protected

under Indonesian law.

Additional eld investigations by Greenpeace conrms

extensive peat drainage, including construction o large

canals, and clear-cutting o rainorests is happening across

these concessions.

Duta Palma is also involved in the destruction o habitat

critical to endangered and protected species including thecritically endangered Sumatran tiger.

who controlsthe traDe?rounDtable onsustainable palm oil

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a high

prole initiative chaired by Unilever. Its members include

major companies along the supply chain rom plantations

through to commodities traders, including Cargill and

ADM, to the worlds ood giants, including Cadburys,

Nestl and Tesco. Together they represent 40% o the

global production and use o palm oil.

On-the-ground investigations by Greenpeace reveal

that RSPO members are dependent on suppliers

that are actively engaged in deorestation and the

conversion o peatlands.

the ooD giants

The RSPO board president Unilever is a major player

in the global palm oil trade. It uses around 1.2 millionuses around 1.2 million

tonnes o palm oil every year, or about 3% o total worldor about 3% o total world

palm oil production, most o which originates romIndonesia and Malaysia. It uses palm oil in brands such

as Flora margarine.

Other leading brands including KitKat, Pringles,

Philadelphia cream cheese and Cadburys Flake and

leading companies including Gillette, Burger King and

McCain are complicit in the expansion o palm oil at the

expense o Indonesias peatlands.

the commoDity giants

Much o the global trade in Indonesian palm oil is

handled by traders based in Singapore. Some o thelargest Singapore-based commodity traders are RSPO

members, including the ADM-Kuok-Wilmar alliance,

Cargill, Golden Hope and Sinar Mas.

The traders are also processors, blending palm oil which

originates rom deorestation and peatland destruction

through their reneries and biouel acilities.

The companies control over the entire palm oil supply

chain rom plantations in Indonesia to rened palm oil

or biouel means that they are in a decisive position to

aect and change the market.

One RSPO member, a major ood retailer, has

complained to Greenpeace that e orts towards

sustainability are hampered because: the global

palm oil industry is unable at present to provide anyone

with evidence o traceabilit y beyond processor, to

plantation level.

Consequently, consumer companies who manuacture

products using palm oil have virtually no way o knowing

whether or not the palm oil they are using is rom rainorest

destruction and conversion o peatlands.

Through carrying on business as usual, the commodity

trade and other big players are not taking the urgent action

necessary to abandon destructive and socially unjust

practices linked to the industrys expansion.


8/25

4

bioueling rainorestDestructionThe scale o global diesel consumption dwar s currently

available eedstocks or biodiesel production. Substituting

even 10% o worldwide demand or diesel uel or road

transport would require more than three-quarters o totalcurrent global soya, palm and rapeseed oil production.

Biouels have a relatively low nancial value compared to

other agricultural products. Thereore, biodiesel is generally

made rom the cheapest o the bulk oil crops: soya, palm

and rapeseed. Palm is ar more productive per hectare

than either soya or rapeseed and is the most signicant

vegetable oil in the world, accounting or 30% o world

edible oil production in 2006/7.

Feeding the growing demand or biodiesel is likely to take

place through expanding palm oil plantations in Indonesia. Big

commodity traders are already planning signicant expansion inthe biodiesel inrastructure. Once this is established, it will eed

o orest destruction and uel not only cars but climate change.

Supplying Europes demand or biouels is being driven by

binding EU targets covering transport uels. In early 2007, the

EU Summit endorsed a minimum target or biouels to constitute

10% o transpor t uels by 2020. This almost doubles the target

o the 2003 Biouel Directive o a 5.75% contribution by 2010.

The increased target is dependent on production being both

cost eective and sustainable.

Diesel uel currently meets around 60% o the road transport

uel demand in Europe. Europes diesel uel consumptionwas 172 million tonnes (Mt) in 2005. According to one RSPO

member company, there is insucient rapeseed available to

meet EU targets.O the alternatives, vegetable oil sourced

rom palm oil is among the most widely and commercially

available. The company predicts a growth in the demand or

biodiesel o 52Mt between 2005 and 2030 in the EU alone

as road transport uel demand continues to rise.

Meeting this projected growth in demand or vegetable

oil through palm oil, or example, would require more than

15 million hectares o mature oil palm plantation. This is

nearly three times the acreage that was under oil palm in

Indonesia in 2005.

Many other countries rom oil-dependent regions are turning

to biouels rom Indonesias rainorests. This trade amounts

to emissions transer, not emissions reduction. GHG

emissions associated with palm oil production, such as

orest clearance, are attributed to the producer country.

The Chinese government expects that biouels will meet 15%

o its transport uel demand by 2020. India has set a target o

securing 20% o its diesel uel rom biouels by 2012.

Greenpeace estimates that current plans or biodiesel

reneries in Indonesia will create an additional biodiesel

production capacity o up to 9Mt a year,including a 5Mt

mega-project planned by Sinar Mas.

To eed this desire or an expansion in capacity, companies

are thinking ahead and turning their attention to the region o

Papua on the island o New Guinea the last great expanse

o rainorest in Southeast Asia. There is already evidence o

large-scale land-grabbing in the name o biouel, with one

company alone reportedly laying claim to nearly 3 million

hectares o orest.

tick tick tick time or actionTime is running out.

The debate is not whether we need to reduce emissions rom

ossil uels in the industrialised world or whether we should stop

deorestation in the remaining orests o the developing world.

The inescapable reality is that we must do both, and now.

The increasing worldwide demand or vegetable oil or ood,

combined with current land-grabbing by biouel companies many o them RSPO members is signicantly increasing

pressure on the worlds threatened rainorests and other

vulnerable habitats. Continued clearance o tropical

rainorests, and their replacement with agricultural commodity

crops like palm oil, seems inevitable unless action is taken

now by industry and governments.

making big emissions cuts ast:halting Deorestation

Tropical rainorest destruction accounts or about one-th o

global GHG emissions more than the worlds cars, lorries and

aeroplanes combined. Destruction o Indonesias peatlands

alone accounts or almost 4% o global annual GHG emissions.

Curbing tropical deorestation is one o the quickest, most

eective ways to cut GHG emissions.

Thedrainingowetlandstoproduceanytypeobiouelwouldproducealossostored

carbonthatwouldtakehundredsoyearstomakeupthroughthebiouelsannualgreenhousegassavings.

e c, 2007


9/25

5

c :c d: 2g co

2

According to an IPCC report,

up to 2Gt CO2(equivalent o

up to 4% o current annualGHG emissions) can be cut

cost eectively. The report

puts the cost or making these

emissions savings at up to

$100/tonne CO2.

Signicantly, this gure does

not include potential to halt

emissions rom peatland and

other bog res.

c :s idd , d : 1.3g co

2

The emissions rom

Indonesias peatland res

largely represent newexpansion and peatland

clearance. The best way

to avoid these emissions is

to stop urther conversion

o peat swamp orests.

Since use o re or orest

or agricultural clearance is

illegal, as is degradation o

deep peat, the only cost

is that o law enorcement

and improved governance.

c :ridddd d: 0.5g co

2

Avoiding emissions rom the

ongoing decay o Indonesias

degraded peatlands posesa cost eective opportunity

to make rapid emissions

reductions. The area involved

is miniscule about 10 million

hectares or less than 0.1%

o the earths land surace.

One project being pursued by

Wetlands International aims to

rehabilitate 43,500 hectares

o degraded peatlands in

Central Kalimantan, avoiding

the emission o 3.4Mt o CO2a

year, or a one-o investment o500,000 (this equates to 0.15/

tonne). This is small change in

global climate change terms.

t :p : 3.8g co

2. t

8% ghg .

stop the problem:zero Deorestation

m d d dd.

start the solution:cut ongoing emissions

r ddd d d f.

start the solution:climate protection

p d , d d d d .

a d d d d k p(-2012) .

m d d d d: d .

5

where can big emissions be cutquickly anD cost eectively?


10/25

6


11/25

7


12/25

8

This report shows how trade in palm oil by some o the worlds

ood giants and commodity traders is helping to detonate a

climate bomb in Indonesias rainorests and peatlands.

Eorts to prevent dangerous climate change will not succeed

unless this and other industries driving orest destruction are

brought under control.

Every year, 1.8 billion tonnes (Gt) o climate changing carbon

dioxide (CO2) emissions are released by the degradation and

burning o Indonesias peatlands1 rom less than 0.1% o the

land on earth.2 These greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arecomparable to the total reduction in annual emissions required

under the Kyoto Protocol rom Annex 1 industria lised nations.3

Successully tackling climate change demands big cuts in

emissions rom burning ossil uels. And this has to happen ast.

Stopping deorestation also needs to be a priority.

Greenpeace has investigated orest destruction at carbon

hotspots in Indonesia by combining satellite imagery o orest res

with maps showing where the most dense carbon stores are. This

research has taken us to Riau province on the island o Sumatra.

The peat soils o this once heavily orested province o 9 million

hectares have the highest concentration o carbon stored

per hectare o anywhere in the world. The area o peatland

involved is tiny: just 4 million hectares4 about the size o

Taiwan or Switzer land.5 Yet Riaus peatlands store 14.6Gt

o carbon.6 I these peatlands are destroyed, the resulting

GHG emissions would be equivalent to one years total global

emissions o carbon dioxide, or ve years emissions rom all

ossil-uel power plants in the world.7

Riau is also home to a quarter o Indonesias oil palm

plantations, 8 and another 3 million hectares are earmarked

or conversion over the next decade. 9 Where once there was

mostly orest, soon hal o Riau wil l be covered in oil palms.

Riaus carbon stores are at risk indeed, they could all go up insmoke i deorestation and degradation continue unabated.

Despite Indonesian government assurances and industry

claims, our on-the-ground investigations conrm that oil palm

companies continue to actively clear natural orest, and drain

and burn deep peat (peat with a depth greater than 2 metres)

that underlays these orests.

Whats driving this rainorest destruction?

Global demand or palm oil.

So Greenpeace has gone to the worlds major traders and

users o palm oil companies like Cargill, Unilever and Nestl

to nd out who supplies them, and what their strategy is

or dealing with the links between palm oil, deorestation and

climate change.

cookingthe

climate


13/25

9

These companies are all members o the Roundtable on

Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Headed by Unilever, the RSPO

is a high-prole trade initiative establ ished to clean up the palm

oil trade. Its members including growers like Golden Hope,

traders like Cargill, manuacturers like Nestl and Johnson &

Johnson, retailers like Tesco and Carreour10 account or 40%

o global production and use o palm oil.11

Cargill, a palm oil suppl ier, reused to comment on its trade

links, claiming: our business with [our customers] must remain

condential.12 Unilever s response to the devastation linked to

palm oil expansion was to say that the company hoped supplierswould see sense.13 Nestl responded that most o our suppliers

are members o the RSPO and as such have declared their

commitment to sustainable sourcing.14

By painstakingly piecing together diverse evidence, we have

traced the links between Riaus peatland destruction and leading

global ood, cosmetic and retail brands, including Unilever, one

o the worlds largest ood giants, and Nestl, one o the wor lds

leading chocolate manuacturers.

Our investigation has revealed the role o commodity traders

including Cargill and ADM-Kuok-Wilmar, who control over

a third o the Indonesian trade in palm oil. They blend palm

oil rom deorestation and conversion o peatlands into an

undierentiated supply or the global market, leaving little trace

o their sources on the ground.

Further, these traders are investing heavily in inrastructure to allow

palm oil to service projected global growth in demand or biouel,

in deance o the evidence that producing vegetable oil by clearing

rainorests and draining peatlands produces considerably more

CO2emissions than biouel use can avoid.15 Indonesia already

has the highest level o climate changing emissions linked to

deorestation o any country.16 Without clear market and political

measures that preclude the use o palm oil rom deorestation,

this new market puts additional pressure on Indonesias carbon-

rich rainorests and peatlands. For Kyoto Annex I industrialised

countries, which have GHG emissions reduction targets, this is

clever carbon accounting, putting the blame on Indonesia orproducts they consume. Eectively, emissions are not reduced

but transerred rom the car in industria lised countries to the orest.

The RSPO and its members have taken ew meaningul steps

to end the devastation and injustice linked to the industry and its

expansion. By dragging out and complicating its sustainability

process, many in the industry are using the RSPO to cover their

backs, putting o urgent action while the destruction continues.

While some RSPO member ood manuacturers and retailers

want to take action to avoid palm oil rom deorestation,

Unilever, Cargill, Nestl and other powerul companies car ry

on with business as usual.

By driving the expansion o oil palm, these companies are

eectively holding the climate to ransom.


14/25

10

Time is running out or the climate.

Climate change is undoubtedly the most serious

environmental threat currently acing the planet. Leading

climate scientists warn that i we allow average globaltemperatures to rise above 2 Celsius, up to 30% o plant

and animal species ace increased risk o extinction,

and about 15% o ecosystems are likely to be seriously

aected.17 A series o reports released during 2007 by

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

acknowledge that climate change is already having

serious impacts.

I business continues as usual, we are on track to see a

much higher average temperature rise, with signicant

extinctions and major coastal fooding, as well as extensive

damage to agriculture and water supplies.18

At a certain point, rising global temperatures will tip the

planets ecological balance. Temperature increase will

disrupt ecosystems in ways that provoke eedback o more

GHG emissions and a catastrophic acceleration o climate

change. In the scientic language o the IPCC: Synergistic

interactions are likely to be detrimental.19

Carbon sinks o global signicance, such as tropical

rainorests and peatlands could become sources o GHG

emissions.20 Every ecosystem that tips rom a sink to a

source increases the likelihood that another will tip like a

series o ever more powerul climate bombs being detonated.

The clock is ticking.

Keeping the global temperature increase below 2C

(compared to pre-industrial levels) means global emissions o

GHGs must peak by 2015 and by this time the world must be

set on track or drastic reductions in overall emissions.21

Concerted action by individuals, international industry

and political decision makers is imperative.

orests as tickingclimate bombsThe destruction o the worlds orests is one o the main

causes o climate change, second only to the energy sector.

Forest ecosystems currently store about one and a hal

times as much carbon as is present in the atmosphere.22

Tropical orests are critical to climate regulation, acting as a

global cooling mechanism through the carbon they store,absorb and cycle. However, these natural buers are rapidly

being destroyed by industrial logging and deorestation or

plantations and agriculture. The rapid ongoing expansion o

these industr ies is a disaster or the climate.

Deorestation drives climate change through substantial GHG

emissions: deorestation vir tually all o it rom tropical rainorest

destruction accounts or about a th o all global emissions.23

This is more than the emissions rom all the worlds cars, trucks,

and aeroplanes. Deorestation also means that there is less

orest area to reabsorb the carbon emit ted to the atmosphere.

Moreover, climate change in part driven by orestdestruction may soon tip these carbon stores into sources

as orests start to die back. According to the IPCC, the carbon

stored in orests is vulnerable to both current climate change

and agricultural expansion.24

More GHG emissions rom deorestation, as well as ossil uel

emissions, increase the risk o reaching an ecosystem tipping

point. Such a tip would probably put an end to any chance o

stopping catastrophic climate change.

Thereore, addressing deorestation must be a critical

component o both political policy and market regulation.

tick tick tick

how orestDestruction

coulD tip the

balance


15/25

11


16/25

12

inDonesias recorD-breakingDeorestation anD ghg emissions

Indonesia now has the astest deorestation rate o any major

orested country. 26 Losing 2% o its remaining orest every year,

Indonesia has earned a place in the Guinness Book o World

Records.27 Indonesia also holds the global record or GHG

emissions rom deorestation, which puts it third behind theUSA and China in terms o total man-made GHG emissions. 28

Over the last 50 years, over 74 million hectares o Indonesias

orests,29 an area three times the size o the UK,30 have been

destroyed logged, burned, degraded, pulped and their

products shipped round the world.

palm oil expansion iscreating a state o emergency

A 2007 UNEP report recognises that oil palm plantations

are now the leading cause o rainorest destruction inMalayia and Indonesia.31

Within Indonesia, virtually all palm oil is currently sourced

rom Sumatra and Kalimantan. In 2005, three-quarters o the

planted area (some 4.2 million hectares) was on Sumatra.32

The Indonesian Palm Oil Research Institute (IOPRI) estimates

that two-thirds o all currently productive oil palm plantations

involved deorestation.33

According to World Bank estimates, between 1985 and

1997, 60% o the lowland rainorest o Kalimantan and

Sumatra was destroyed,34 with the expansion o oil palm

plantations being a major driver. 35

prime numbers:international commitment totackling climate change at bali

t k p dd d. a d b d d d d

d ghg 2015.

s d d d d dd. t d additional d .


17/25

13

Deorestation,peatlanddegradationandorestfreshaveplacedIndonesiaamongthetopemittersogreenhousegasesintheworld,amongindustrialgiantstheUnitedStatesandChina[...]Globalwarmingwilllikelycauseaviciouscyclebydryinguptherainorestandpeatswamps,thusincreasingtherisksoevenmoreintensefres.

wd b/ uk g dd , 2007

On top o Indonesias existing 6 million hectares o oil palms,36

the countrys central government has plans or another 4 million

hectares by 2015 dedicated to biouel production alone.37

Provincial governments are even more ambitious in terms o oil

palm expansion, planning or an additional 20 million hectares.38

O this, nearly 80% o the expansion is planned or Sumatra

and Kalimantan, with most o the remainder, some 3 million

hectares, in Papua, Indonesias largest remaining region o intactrainorests. Nearly 40% o the expansion in Sumatra some 3

million hectares is earmarked or the province o Riau.39

palm oils boom!

booming DemanD

Oil palm plantations eed a global demand or cheap

vegetable oil used in the production o ood, cosmetics and

uel. Demand or palm oil is predicted to more than double

by 2030 compared to 2000, and to triple by 2050.41 Going

by current practices in Indonesia, every drop o extra palmoil production means more expansion directly or indirectly

into orests and peatlands. More expansion particularly into

peatlands means more GHG emissions.

Even as European governments attempt to reduce GHG

emissions in their own countries, they use ever more palm oil to

eed the demand or biouels or transport and biomass in power

stations up to 1.5 million tonnes (Mt) in 2005.42 This use alone

equates to the harvest rom 400,000 hectares, or 4.5% o global

palm oil production.43 Meanwhile, palm oil use in ood continues

to increase, 44 partly as ood manuacturers shit to using palm oil

instead o hydrogenated ats and partly as it replaces other edible

oils being used or biodiesel.45

inDonesiasgreenhousegas emissions rompeatlanD conversion

The destruction o Indonesias peat swamp

orests is one o the largest sources o GHG

emissions in the world.

Indonesias emissions rom destroyed or degraded

peatland are around 1.8Gt CO2per year,46 equivalent

to 4% o total GHG emissions,47 rom less than 0.1%

o the worlds land surace.48

Fires account or about 70% o Indonesias annual

emissions rom peatland.49 However, even i all urther

peatland clearance and burning is stopped, substantial

emissions rom oil palm and pulp wood plantations

on degraded peat soils will continue ar into the uture.

Peatland emissions o CO2are set to rise by at least 50%

by 2030 i predicted expansion goes ahead.50

O the 22.5 million hectares o peatland in Indonesia,

some 10 million hectares have already been cleared o

orest and drained causing massive ongoing emissions

o GHG as the peat soils dry out, oxidise and even burn.51

According to Wetlands International, production o one

tonne o palm oil rom peatland results in an average

emission o 10 to 30 tonnes o CO2rom peat

decomposition alone. This does not include the emissions

rom re or take into account other GHG emissions during

the production cycle, such as ertiliser use or methane

rom renery waste.


18/25


19/25


20/25

16

why are peatlanDsimportant or the climate?Peatlands are perhaps the worlds most critical carbon stores.

Covering just 3% o the earths land surace,52 they nevertheless

store somewhere between a th and a third o the total carboncontained in the terrestrial biosphere, including all soils and

vegetation53 Wetlands International puts the gure at 528 billion

tonnes o carbon.54 I all this peat were burnt or ully degraded,

it would release 1935Gt o CO2, or 190 times the current annual

global emissions rom ossil-uel power stations.55

As a result, preserving peatlands is critical i we are to maintain

climate stability. Tropical peat is extremely carbon-rich.

Southeast Asian peatlands are estimated to store an average

o 60kg o carbon per cubic metre,56 and in total they hold

an estimated 42Gt o carbon,57 equivalent to 15 years global

emissions rom ossil-uel power stations at current levels,58

90% o this is in Indonesia. There are about 22.5 million

hectares o peatlands in Indonesia, including peat swamp

orests.59 These areas contain some o the worlds deepest

peat deposits up to 15 metres.60

peat:a volatile

material


21/25

17

The carbon stored in tropical peatlands is rapidly being released

as these habitats are destroyed.61 Southeast Asian peatlands

in particular are being decimated by logging and agricultural

expansion, especially or oil palm plantations.

I current trends continue, almost all o Southeast Asiaspeatlands could be drained in the coming decades, putting

all 42Gt o stored carbon at risk.

carbon cycling anD storage

Plants make up an essential part o the global carbon cycle they

take in CO2rom the atmosphere, store carbon while they live,

as a chemical constituent o their tissues and fuids, then return it

to the atmosphere through decomposition when they die. In an

undisturbed ecosystem this process is largely in balance and as

such does not play a role in causing climate change.62

Whole ecosystems such as orests can thus be viewed as long-

term carbon stores, holding carbon or centuries or millennia and

in huge quantities.63 The separate par ts o this store o carbon

individual trees, or example may die, decay and so release

stored carbon back into the atmosphere, but the ecosystem as

a whole retains a store o carbon as each decomposing tree is

replaced by a new growing one.

An ecosystems soils also store carbon. Peat soils, consisting

almost entirely o dead vegetation saturated with water,accumulated over hundreds or thousands o years, can

store hundreds o tonnes o carbon per hectare.64 The micro-

organisms which normally carry out decomposition are unable

to unction due to the limited oxygen content o the water,

suspending decomposition and thus storing the carbon

indenitely. 65 As long as new peat is orming, more carbon

is absorbed by the ecosystem than is lost rom it, making it

a net accumulator o carbon a carbon sink.66 With the right

conditions o pressure and heat over thousands or millions o

years, peat can turn to coal ossilised carbon removed rom

the carbon cycle almost indenitely unless it is burned.67

Destroying natural carbon sinks makes a double contribution to

global warming: the stored carbon is released to the atmosphere,

and at the same time, the capacity o the ecosystem to absorb

new carbon rom the atmosphere is curtailed.68


22/25

18

counting theclimate cost opeatlanD Destruction

Once peatland is drained, oxygen in the air enables decomposition

o the biological material in the peat, releasing the stored carbon

as CO2.69 How ast the peat decomposes depends partly on

temperature: in the heat o the tropics, decomposition can be up

to ten times aster and annual emissions ten times higher than

in colder regions such as Siberia.70 Drainage o tropical peatland to

one metre depth results in emissions o 80100 tonnes o CO2per

hectare per year, excluding the e ects o re.71 Emissions continue

over a period o decades, tailing o as the carbon store runs out.72

Deeper drainage will cause higher emissions. Dry peat is also

highly fammable, and once drained, whole areas can catch re

and can burn or months, producing rapid and

massive emissions o greenhouse gases, as well as smog.

In Southeast Asia, large-scale drainage o peatlands takes

place to permit logging o the peat swamp orests; logs are

also transported in the drainage canals. Ater logging, drainage

continues or even intensies to enable the establishment o oil

palm or pulp wood (acacia) plantations. These tree species

require deep drainage, which dries out more peat and so

causes more emissions.73 Over a quarter o oil palm plantations

are on peat.74 Drainage or logging alone is usually less deep, but

the eects are signicant as it can cover very large areas.75

Moreover, peat drainage can have eects on a whole

landscape, not just the area targeted. Deep drainage, or


23/25

19

example or oil palm plantations, drains o water rom adjoining,

still orested areas, and the general water table begins to all.

This eect can extend several kilometres rom the intentionally

drained area,76 resulting in a greatly increased release o CO2.

As a result it is likely that existing calculations o GHG emissions

rom drained peatlands are underestimated.77

Wetlands International estimates CO2emissions rom

peatlands across Southeast Asia between 1997 and 2006

at around 2Gt per year (1,400Mt rom res and 600Mt rom

decomposition caused by drainage).78 1.8Gt o this 90% is

estimated to have been rom Indonesia. As a result o peatland

emissions, Indonesia ranks as the worlds third highest emitter

o greenhouse gases, ater the USA and China.79 Brazil ranks

ourth, mainly due to deorestation.80

ires speeDing upthe emissions process

w ddd d d dd, d d d .

i 1997/98, id d ,e n-fd, d . u ddd dd ,81 d ghg 40% 1990.82

w id 1999,83 dd d d. i2006 , 40,000 d d s a.84

s d d ghg , d . t d dd d, d . Dd id d .


24/25

20


25/25

21

cooking the climate 1

Documents