[Bogor, November 2, 2019] The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, also known as the RSPO, is a non-profit association that brings together all stakeholders in the world palm oil industry. Every year the RSPO routinely holds a grand event, the RSPO RT. This year the 17th RSPO RT will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 3-5 November 2019. Considering that forest and land fires are also found in palm oil concessions of companies that are members of the RSPO, it is appropriate that the issue of forest and land fires be one of the topics discussed in this year’s RSPO RT agenda agenda.
Related to the phenomenon of forest and land fires, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) reportedly has already processed 79 legal concession holders and one individual per October 16, 2019. As of the end of September 2019, KLHK claimed that the area of fires reached 857,756 ha, consisting of 630,451 hectares of mineral land and 227,304 ha of peatland.
The #cleanbiofuelforall civil society coalition found that several land fires occurred in concessions owned by RSPO member companies that were also ISPO certified. No less than 19 RSPO member companies in Sumatra and Kalimantan have burnt their concessions. In fact, some of these companies are in the peat area and are one of the suppliers for Biofuel-producing companies. If biofuel is predicted as an alternative solution for renewable energy, then the supplier company should apply the principle of NDPE (no deforestation, no peat, and no exploitation).
Inda Fatinaware Executive Director of Sawit Watch said, “If PT. There is no real and immediate improvement effort in DIL, so in the next dry season the land will certainly be burned again “.
Besides PT. DIL peatland fires also occurred in a subsidiary of the Tunas Baru Lampung group RSPO member, PT. Samora Usaha Jaya (SUJ) located in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI), the area of peat land reached 3,600 ha in the July-September period, it is strongly suspected that the burned land is being prepared for oil palm cultivation.
The role of all parties is needed to realize #cleanbiofuelforall. In the 17th RSPO RT to be held in Bangkok, Thailand the RSPO should state openly and honestly that some of its members have indeed been proven to have burned down the concession area.
ISPO as a state instrument in labeling #sawitbaik also do not just distribute certificates. The contents of ISPO which are manifestations of positive laws should be able to force companies to comply with the law. If the company is already ISPO, but burning the land can be an indication “there is a law that is violated” by the company.
The forest and land fires should be a turning point to re-review permits, legality, governance, and #sawitbaik statements that were predicted by companies and the state. Thus, Pertamina can also screen suppliers who do not implement NDPE. As is well known, products from palm oil in the form of biofuel were purchased by PT. Pertamina to be used as a Solar mixer to become B20.
“PT. Pertamina as a BUMN should play an active role in helping the current regime stop forest and land fires, by stopping the purchase of biofuels from companies that carry out or find in their permits that have caught fire. PT. Pertamina also needs to make a sustainable environmental policy by adhering to the NDPE principle that is binding for the entire Biofuel supply chain. “Said Hadi Jatmiko of the Green Circle Association.
Tiara Yasinta, a researcher from the Independent Forestry Monitoring Network (JPIK) added, “The government must improve coordination and synergy between sectoral ministries / institutions including BUMN (Pertamina), so that efforts to save the environment become a joint agenda and are expected to be able to integrate all initiatives, while at the same time creating control functions. and evaluation. The current events should be good learning for the government and other parties, so that the partial efforts that are currently being carried out will no longer be repeated in the future “.
Biofuel, which is said to be a renewable energy source, should not actually damage the earth more than fossil fuel. The state must not be proud because it has switched to using biofuel, if the biofuel still destroys forests, destroys peatlands, and comes from companies that exploit people.
